A growing proportion of deaths in Canada are the result of euthanasia, but the vast majority are the result of terminal illness. This is evident from new government figures.
In Canada, more than 15,000 people received medical assistance in dying in 2023, the highest figure ever. But federal statistics show case growth has slowed significantly, with assisted deaths accounting for 4.7% of deaths, up from 4.1% the year before.
In both 2023 and 2022, approximately 96% of cases involved patients with a terminal condition, with cancer cited as the most common reason for assisted death. The average age of someone requesting euthanasia is 78 years.
Canada is among a handful of countries to introduce assisted dying laws in recent years, joining Austria, Australia and Spain. Britain has recently passed legislation in this area.
While medically assisted dying is only legal in Canada for people based on a physical health condition, the government is considering potentially expanding eligibility to include advanced requests, which would allow people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia to plan their deaths apply before the consequences of the disease. the disease has set in.
After years of delays, assisted death is expected to be possible for people with mental illnesses by 2027.
In its fifth annual report on assisted dying, Health Canada found that the 15,343 people who received assisted dying last year represented a 15.8% increase from 2022, showing that growth had halved compared to an average annual growth rate of 31% between 2019 and 2022.
The report warned that the federal health agency cannot draw “reliable conclusions” about whether the slower increase in demand indicates a “stabilization” of cases in the long term.
Separately, Statistics Canada said the total number of deaths in the country has decreased to 326,571 in 2023, a decrease of 2.4% from the previous year. Cancer remains the most common cause of death. These preliminary figures suggest that physician-assisted deaths generally do not add new deaths, but instead crowd out deaths that would likely be due to a terminal illness.