More than 16,000 people died by medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada last year, according to the latest government numbers.
The sixth annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, released by Health Canada on Nov. 28, reported that a total of 16,499 people died by MAID in 2024, a 6.9 percent increase over 2023.
Health Canada said that amounts to about 5.1 percent of all deaths in Canada for 2024.
The report noted that 22,535 applied for MAID last year, saying that of the cases that did not result in a MAID death, 4,017 died of another cause, 1,327 were found to be ineligible, and 692 people withdrew their request.
It notes that the year-over-year annual growth rate has been shrinking.
“[The] annual rate of growth in the number of MAID provisions has decreased significantly over the past several years, from 36.8 percent between 2019 and 2020 to 6.9 percent between 2023 and 2024,” the report authors said.
The report said the findings seem to suggest that the number of MAID cases is “beginning to stabilize.”
“However, it will take several more years before long-term trends can be conclusively identified,” the authors said.
Canada has one of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world. Currently, those whose only medical condition is mental illness are not eligible, but that may change in March 2027.
There have been 76,475 reported deaths by MAID in Canada since it was legalized in 2016.
MAID Cases
MAID cases are divided into two tracks: track one is for those whose death is “reasonably foreseeable,” while track two includes those whose deaths are not “reasonably foreseeable.”
Canadians who were approved for MAID’s track one accounted for 95.6 percent of the deaths.
The average age of those receiving MAID under track one was 78 years old, with 60.9 percent over the age of 75 years, according to Health Canada. It noted that 52.2 percent of those were men and 47.8 percent were women.
Cancer was cited in the largest number of cases (63.6 percent), the report said.
Track two MAID cases accounted for 4.4 percent of deaths, and 24.2 percent of cases that were assessed as ineligible.
The average age for track two deaths was 75.9, with 53.5 percent over the age of 75 years. More women than men accounted for track two MAID deaths, at 56.7 percent and 43.3 percent respectively.
“This is also consistent with overall population health trends where women are more likely to experience long-term chronic illness, which can cause enduring suffering but would not typically make a person’s death reasonably foreseeable,” the report authors wrote.
It noted that those applying under track two have lived longer with an incurable condition than those under track one, with 34.1 percent and 7.4 percent respectively living with an incurable illness or disability for more than 10 years.
The most common conditions cited for track two MAID applications is neurological conditions or “other” conditions, such as diabetes, frailty, autoimmune conditions, or chronic pain.
The health agency noted that some of the reasons people cited for accessing MAID were the same for both tracks, such as the “loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities,” which was the most commonly reported source of suffering, followed by the “loss of ability to perform activities of daily living.”
Health Canada said that of the 16,499 who received MAID, 15,927 or 96.5 percent responded to questions of racial or cultural identity. It found that 95.6 percent of those were Caucasian, with the second most commonly reported cultural identity being East Asian, at 1.6 percent. Those rates were 95.8 percent and 1.8 percent respectively in 2023.
