More than 16,000 Canadians died by MAID in 2024 — 5% of all deaths in Canada: report

As Canada approaches the ten-year mark of legalized doctor-assisted death, the number of annual deaths appears to be plateauing, according to the federal government’s latest report on medical assistance in dying (MAID) .

A total of 16,499 people died by MAID in Canada in 2024. However, the year-over-year annual growth rate in deaths has been shrinking, from 36.8 per cent between 2019 and 2020, to 6.9 per cent between 2023 and 2024, according to Health Canada’s sixth annual report on MAID.

“While the data suggests that the number of annual MAID provisions is beginning to stabilize, it will take several more years before long-term trends can be conclusively identified,” according to the report.

In all, MAID deaths accounted for 5.1 per cent of all deaths in Canada last year, a small — 0.4 per cent — increase from 2023.

There have been 76,475 reported MAID deaths in Canada since the practice was allowed in 2016.

According to the latest update, the vast majority (95.6 per cent) of people who died by MAID last year had a “reasonably foreseeable” death, known as “Track 1” deaths. They were older (78 on average) than MAID recipients who weren’t near death — so-called Track 2 cases — and more likely to have cancer.

Those who received a doctor-assisted death whose natural deaths were not reasonably foreseeable were mostly women (56.7 per cent), slightly younger and had lived longer with a serious and incurable condition than Track 1 cases.

Along with neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, frailty, autoimmune conditions and chronic pain were conditions most often cited among people who weren’t close to dying.

The latest data come amid concerns that some MAID deaths are being driven by loneliness, hopelessness and isolation, and that some doctors are taking an over broad interpretation of the law.

Among Canada’s MAID criteria, a person must be experiencing intolerable and “enduring physical or psychological suffering.”

Isolation or loneliness wasn’t reported as a “sole source of suffering” for any MAID cases in 2024, according to the report. However, people approved for MAID often report not one, but multiple sources of suffering.

In 2024, loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities was most common, followed by loss of ability to perform daily tasks of basic living, like eating, drinking, dressing and moving around. But there were some differences: Track 1 (reasonably foreseeable death) people were more likely to say their symptoms weren’t being adequately controlled, or they were worried they wouldn’t be, “while Track 2 MAID recipients were more likely to report isolation or loneliness and loss of dignity.”

In all, Health Canada received 22,535 reports of MAID requests in 2024; 16,499 were approved. Of the remaining, 4,017 died before receiving MAID, 1,327 people were deemed ineligible and 692 ultimately withdrew their request.

The report’s other findings include that people who receive MAID don’t disproportionately come from lower-income or disadvantaged communities, suggesting they’re “more likely to be represented in higher income neighbourhoods.”

They’re also less likely to live in a remote area, suggesting they weren’t driven to MAID due to a lack of access to health services, according to the report.

Most MAID deaths occurred in Quebec (36.4 per cent), Ontario (30 per cent) and British Columbia (18.2 per cent.)

Cancer, especially lung, colorectal pancreatic and blood cancer, was the most frequently reported condition in nearly all age groups of people who died by MAID in 2024, except those 85 and older, “for whom ‘other’ conditions were the most frequently cited.”

“Loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities” was the most commonly reported source of suffering.

Of the 16,104 people who responded to questions around disabilities, roughly one-third (32.9 per cent) reported having a disability.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities earlier this year called on Canada to repeal the 2021 law that expanded MAID eligibility to people whose deaths aren’t reasonably foreseeable out of concerns that people with disabilities are seeking MAID due to “unmet needs, a systemic failure of the State party,” according to a meeting summary.

There were 2,266 doctors and nurse practitioners providing MAID in 2024. However, a small number were doing a lion’s share of provisions: 102 who provided MAID 31 times or more were responsible for 38 per cent (6,185) of all MAID provisions, according to the report.

National Post

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