More Canadians choosing medically assisted death

Euthanasia continues to represent a growing proportion of the mortality rate in Canada, accounting for nearly one in every 20 deaths in the country last year, the latest government figures show.

According to Health Canada’s annual medical assistance in dying (MAID) report, released on Wednesday, 15,343 people were euthanized in the country in 2023, an all-time high. While the number represents an increase of 15.8% over 2022, it registers a drop from an average annual growth rate of about 31%, the report noted.

While the growth rate has declined, it still reveals another double-digit increase in Canadian citizens opting to end their lives under the country’s national suicide law. It is “not yet possible to make reliable conclusions about whether or not these findings represent a stabilization of growth rates over the longer term,” the MAID report added.

Federal statistics show the growth in cases of assisted death making up 4.7% of deaths in 2023, compared to 4.1% the previous year.

More than 95% of euthanasia cases involved people who were terminally ill, with cancer cited as the most common reason for the request. The average age of someone seeking assisted death is over 77.

“An increased awareness of MAID within the care continuum, population aging, and the associated patterns of illness or disease, personal beliefs, and societal acceptance, as well as the availability of practitioners who provide MAID, may all influence the rate of provisions,” the report noted.

Medically assisted death in Canada is only legal for people on the basis of a physical health condition. However, the government is reportedly considering allowing persons with Alzheimer’s and dementia to request their deaths before the worst effects of such illnesses set in.

In February, the government delayed a controversial plan to allow assisted dying for the mentally ill until at least 2027, to allow the country’s healthcare services to properly prepare. Medical professionals expressed concerns that they are not yet adequately trained to determine whether someone with a mental illness qualifies for euthanasia.

Canadian Health Minister Mark Holland said at the time the government accepts the equivalency of mental suffering and physical suffering, but that it is a “question of readiness.”

In 2021, Canada loosened its euthanasia laws to no longer require that a patient’s condition be terminal, allowing people whose condition is serious and incurable to request the option. The number of medically-assisted deaths in Canada has risen significantly since it was first introduced, from roughly 1,000 in 2016 to more than 15,000 last year.

In recent years a number of other countries have introduced assisted dying laws, including Austria, Australia and Spain. The UK recently passed legislation on the issue though the vote in the House of Commons was not the final say.