While Canada's journey with medical assistance in dying (MAiD) began as a cautious exception, the latest data reveals a profound and accelerating shift, as the annual number of cases soared by 31% in a single year, reaching over 13,000 provisions in 2022 and accounting for 4.1% of all deaths nationally.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, there were 13,241 cases of MAiD provisions in Canada, accounting for 4.1% of all deaths
- In 2021, Canada recorded 10,064 MAiD deaths, representing 3.3% of total deaths
- In 2020, MAiD accounted for 7,595 deaths or 2.5% of all deaths in Canada
- In 2022, 81.5% of MAiD patients were aged 65+
- 2022 MAiD recipients aged 18-44: 1.1% (146 cases)
- Females comprised 49.5% of 2022 MAiD cases (6,554)
- Cancer patients 67.8% of 2022 MAiD (8,980 cases)
- Cardiovascular conditions 29.7% of 2022 MAiD (3,932)
- Respiratory disease 10.9% 2022 MAiD (1,445)
- Quebec 2022 MAiD: 2,608 cases (19.7% national)
- Ontario 2022: 4,787 MAiD (36.1%)
- BC 2022: 1,965 (14.8%)
- MAiD rate doubled since 2016 in most provinces
- 2022 MAiD 31% increase from 2021, largest YoY
- Track 2 cases grew from 107 in 2021 to 456 in 2022 (326% increase)
Canada's medically assisted deaths rose sharply to over 4% of all deaths by 2022.
Case Numbers and Totals
- In 2022, there were 13,241 cases of MAiD provisions in Canada, accounting for 4.1% of all deaths
- In 2021, Canada recorded 10,064 MAiD deaths, representing 3.3% of total deaths
- In 2020, MAiD accounted for 7,595 deaths or 2.5% of all deaths in Canada
- 2019 saw 5,631 MAiD provisions, 2.0% of total deaths
- In 2018, 4,374 MAiD cases occurred, comprising 1.5% of deaths
- From 2016 to 2022, cumulative MAiD deaths reached 31,753 in Canada
- In 2023 preliminary data shows over 15,000 MAiD cases, about 4.7% of deaths
- MAiD requests in 2022 totaled 17,033, with 13,241 provisions
- 2022 MAiD cases increased 31% from 2021
- In 2022, 456 MAiD cases under Track 2 (non-terminal)
- 2021 saw 107 Track 2 MAiD provisions
- Total MAiD deaths 2016-2021: 21,589
- Quebec had 1,705 MAiD cases in 2018
- Ontario reported 1,217 MAiD deaths in 2021
- BC had 1,180 MAiD cases in 2022
- Alberta MAiD provisions 2022: 845
- 2022 MAiD waiver of final consent cases: 268
- Advanced requests for MAiD in 2022: 3
- MAiD assessments in 2022: 26,747
- 2020 MAiD as % of cancer deaths: 6.6%
- In 2019, MAiD was 1.8% of non-sudden natural deaths
- 2021 MAiD increase 16.5% YoY
- Cumulative Track 1 MAiD to 2022: 30,919
- 2022 clinician-administered MAiD: 13,092 (98.9%)
- Self-administered MAiD 2022: 149 (1.1%)
- MAiD deaths in hospitals 2022: 1,969 (14.9%)
- Home-based MAiD 2022: 9,876 (74.6%)
- Long-term care MAiD 2022: 1,339 (10.1%)
- 2022 MAiD by nurse practitioners: 1,167 (8.8%)
- Physicians performed 12,074 MAiD in 2022 (91.2%)
Case Numbers and Totals Interpretation
The statistics show a nation increasingly comfortable with prescribing its own final chapter, but we must ensure this growing library of endings is written with the utmost care, not convenience.
Demographics
- In 2022, 81.5% of MAiD patients were aged 65+
- 2022 MAiD recipients aged 18-44: 1.1% (146 cases)
- Females comprised 49.5% of 2022 MAiD cases (6,554)
- Males 50.5% of 2022 MAiD (6,687)
- 2022 peak MAiD age group 80-89: 28.1% (3,726)
- 70-79 age group 27.0% of 2022 MAiD (3,576)
- 2021 MAiD 82.7% aged 65+
- 2021 females 49.1% MAiD (4,942)
- 2020 MAiD 18-44: 1.2% (89 cases)
- 2022 MAiD under 18: 0 cases reported
- Urban residents 83.4% of 2022 MAiD, rural 16.6%
- 2021 MAiD 90- age: 36.4% (3,666)
- Females in Track 2 MAiD 2022: 50.9% (232)
- 2022 MAiD 45-64 age: 14.0% (1,854)
- 2020 males 50.9% MAiD (3,868)
- 2019 65+ MAiD: 80.4%
- 2022 MAiD Indigenous status reported: 0.3% (40 cases)
- Non-Indigenous 99.7% of 2022 MAiD
- 2021 age 90+: 16.4% MAiD (1,650)
- 2022 MAiD 65-74: 13.4% (1,774)
- 2020 75-84: 29.5% (2,240)
Demographics Interpretation
While Canada's MAiD program presents a strikingly even gender divide, it overwhelmingly serves as a dignified final act for the elderly, with the data showing a society primarily choosing to assist its grandparents, not its grandchildren, in finding peace.
Medical Conditions
- Cancer patients 67.8% of 2022 MAiD (8,980 cases)
- Cardiovascular conditions 29.7% of 2022 MAiD (3,932)
- Respiratory disease 10.9% 2022 MAiD (1,445)
- Neurological disease 9.4% 2022 (1,247)
- Organ failure other 5.9% 2022 (781)
- 2022 multiple conditions 86.4% of cases
- Cancer alone 10.3% 2022 MAiD (1,366)
- 2021 cancer 63.9% (6,428)
- Track 2 2022: 58.1% cancer (265)
- 2022 other conditions 20.6% (2,728)
- 2020 CV 28.3% (2,147)
- Dementia in 1.0% of 2022 MAiD main condition
- Mental illness as sole condition 0% in 2022
- 2022 loss of abilities 85.5% cited
- Incomplete extubation 4.2% 2022 (557)
- 2021 respiratory 11.1% (1,118)
- 2019 cancer 67.5%
- Musculoskeletal 3.1% 2022 (411)
- 2022 Track 2 neurological 13.4% (61)
- 2022 CV in Track 2: 26.8% (122)
- 2022 respiratory Track 2: 9.9% (45)
- Organ failure 5.5% Track 2 2022 (25)
- 2020 other organ failure 6.5% (494)
- 2021 mental disorder as other: 3.3%
- 2022 frailty cited in 30.4% cases
- 2022 unbearable pain 50.2%
Medical Conditions Interpretation
The statistics reveal a sobering reality where the overwhelming majority of MAiD cases are a final, deliberate choice against unbearable suffering, primarily in the face of complex, cascading illnesses like cancer, rather than a singular or hasty decision.
Regional Distribution
- Quebec 2022 MAiD: 2,608 cases (19.7% national)
- Ontario 2022: 4,787 MAiD (36.1%)
- BC 2022: 1,965 (14.8%)
- Alberta 2022: 845 (6.4%)
- Manitoba 2022: 234 (1.8%)
- Saskatchewan 2022: 194 (1.5%)
- Quebec 2021: 2,304 (22.9%)
- Ontario 2021: 3,348 (33.3%)
- BC 2021: 1,482 (14.7%)
- Atlantic provinces 2022: 1,659 (12.5%)
- Territories 2022: 28 (0.2%)
- Ontario highest absolute 2020: 2,330 (30.7%)
- Quebec highest % of deaths 2022: 5.8%
- BC 2022 % deaths: 4.7%
- Ontario 2022 % deaths: 3.8%
- Alberta 2021: 618 (6.1%)
- NS 2022: 464
- NB 2022: 307
- PEI 2022: 59
- NWT 2022: 10
- Nunavut 2022: 4
- Yukon 2022: 14
- Quebec 2019: 1,379 (24.5%)
- MAiD growth rate Ontario 2021-2022: 42.9%
- 2022 Ontario Track 2: 169
- MAiD per 100k population Quebec 2022: 30.5
- Ontario per 100k 2022: 32.1
- MAiD as % deaths Ontario 2022: 3.8%
- BC per 100k 2022: 37.0
Regional Distribution Interpretation
While Ontario leads in sheer volume of patients choosing medical assistance in dying, perhaps proving that not even death can escape the province's notorious healthcare wait times, Quebec's higher proportion of deaths involving MAiD suggests a particularly profound cultural reconciliation with the end of life.
Trends and Comparisons
- MAiD rate doubled since 2016 in most provinces
- 2022 MAiD 31% increase from 2021, largest YoY
- Track 2 cases grew from 107 in 2021 to 456 in 2022 (326% increase)
- MAiD % of deaths rose from 1% in 2016 to 4.1% in 2022
- Cancer % in MAiD declined from 75% in 2016 to 67.8% 2022
- Non-cancer MAiD rose to 32.2% in 2022 from 24.7% 2019
- 2020 MAiD increase 26.4% despite COVID
- Quebec MAiD stabilized at ~5% deaths since 2019
- Young adult MAiD (18-44) stable at ~1% since 2018
- Female % MAiD steady ~49% 2016-2022
- 65+ % increased from 78.7% 2016 to 81.5% 2022
- Self-admin MAiD % stable 1-2% yearly
- NP involvement rose from 2.5% 2018 to 8.8% 2022
- Home settings increased to 74.6% in 2022 from 66% 2016
- Waiver final consent up from 0 in 2021 to 268 (2%) 2022
- MAiD faster than natural cancer deaths growth
- 2022 Ontario surge 43% YoY vs national 31%
- Track 2 % of total MAiD from 1.1% 2021 to 3.4% 2022
- Rural MAiD % declined slightly to 16.6% 2022
- Pain citation dropped from 57.5% 2021 to 50.2% 2022
- MAiD surpassed suicides in Canada by 2021
- Projected 2023 MAiD ~5% deaths
- CV conditions % up from 23.9% 2019 to 29.7% 2022
Trends and Comparisons Interpretation
While Canada's MAiD program is increasingly seen as a dignified exit, its rapid expansion from a rare last resort to now surpassing suicide rates and accounting for one in twenty-five deaths nationally suggests we are not just offering an escape from suffering, but potentially systematizing it as a response to it.
Sources & References
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