A new federal report shows that more than one in twenty deaths in Canada now result from doctor-assisted euthanasia, marking a profound societal shift as the country’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program continues its rapid expansion.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
According to Health Canada’s Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying, released in November, 16,499 Canadians received lethal injections under MAiD in 2024. That number represents 5.1 percent of all deaths nationwide, a modest but notable increase from the previous year’s total. The report highlights that “the Government of Canada will continue its work to help ensure that the legislation on MAiD reflects the needs of people in Canada, protects those who may be vulnerable, and supports autonomy and freedom of choice.”
Annual Report Medical Assistance Dying 2024 by yourNEWS Media
Health Canada emphasized that MAiD is not categorized as a cause of death under World Health Organization classifications and therefore cannot be ranked alongside other causes in national mortality statistics. Nonetheless, the agency acknowledged that assisted deaths now comprise a measurable share of total national mortality. The 5.1 percent figure represents a 0.4 percent increase from 2023 and a 6.9 percent year-over-year rise in total cases—suggesting, according to the report, that “MAiD provisions are beginning to stabilize” after years of exponential growth.
Of the 2024 euthanasia cases, 95.6 percent fell under “Track 1,” reserved for patients whose deaths were considered reasonably foreseeable. The remaining 4.4 percent were classified as “Track 2” cases, involving people who were not terminally ill but suffered from chronic conditions and sought to end their lives. The report noted that although Track 2 accounted for a small proportion of completed procedures, it represented nearly one quarter—24.2 percent—of all MAiD requests deemed ineligible.
Further insight into the motivations behind some euthanasia requests came from internal documents obtained from Ontario physicians in 2024, revealing that some Canadians chose assisted death primarily due to poverty, isolation, or long wait times for care rather than terminal illness. The report itself found that 63.6 percent of individuals who were euthanized cited cancer as their underlying condition.
The findings come amid worsening delays in Canada’s health care system, with average wait times now reaching 27.7 weeks. Advocates have warned that limited access to medical treatment has led some patients to view euthanasia as their only viable option. There have also been reports of medical staff pressuring elderly or disabled patients who decline MAiD, with some being labeled “selfish” for refusing assisted death.
Since legalization in 2016, Canada’s euthanasia program has expanded more than thirteenfold—making it the fastest-growing assisted-dying regime in the world. Despite this rapid rise, euthanasia remains excluded from the country’s official mortality rankings. Although current estimates suggest that it is now the sixth leading cause of death, Statistics Canada’s list of top 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022 does not include MAiD. The agency has explained that it records only the underlying medical condition that led to the request for euthanasia—not the act of euthanasia itself—as the cause of death.
As policymakers debate whether to expand MAiD further, the new data underscores an uneasy milestone: more Canadians than ever before are ending their lives through state-sanctioned medical intervention, raising difficult ethical and social questions about what “assisted dying” now means in practice.
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