Statistics Canada confirmed that its annual mortality datasets do not include medically-assisted deaths due to the lack of an official classification by the World Health Organization.
This exclusion occurs despite Health Canada’s report indicating significant MAID-related deaths last year.
Health Canada’s fourth annual report on medical assistance in dying (MAID) highlighted 13,241 MAID deaths in 2022, positioning it as the sixth-leading cause of death in the country. MAID accounted for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada in 2022. However, this figure remains conspicuously absent from Statistics Canada’s annual mortality data.
The agency’s recent report showed a 7.3% increase in overall deaths across Canada in 2022, alongside a decrease in life expectancy for the third consecutive year.
There were 334,081 total reported deaths in Canada for 2022. The leading causes of death, as per Statistics Canada’s report, were cancer (24.7%), heart disease (17.2%), COVID-19 (5.90%), accidents (unintentional injuries) (5.50%), cerebrovascular diseases (4.17%), and chronic lower respiratory diseases (3.73%).
“In the database, the underlying cause of death is defined as the disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death. As such, MAID deaths are coded to the underlying condition for which MAID was requested,” said Statistics Canada in a clarifying post on social media.
“Causes of death are coded using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) 10th revision (ICD-10)… There is no code for MAID in the ICD,” Statistics Canada told the Epoch Times.
In other words, someone suffering from cancer who dies by MAID would be classified as a cancer death.
The situation is further complicated as some provinces do not include MAID on medical certificates of death, which are vital for reporting to provincial and federal vital statistics registries.
“Therefore, Vital Statistics is not a reliable source for tracking MAID. Stats Can will continue to classify deaths according to the WHO ICD rules,” said the agency.
In 2022, 3.5% of MAID recipients (463 individuals) were granted MAID despite not having a reasonably foreseeable natural death. This is an increase from 2.2% (223 individuals) granted MAID in this circumstance in 2021. There are safeguards in place that must be met for MAID to be granted to individuals without a reasonably foreseeable natural death.
The total number of MAID deaths grew 31.2% between 2021 and 2022. Deaths from MAID are expected to grow even more in the coming years as the federal government prepares to expand the procedure to Canadians whose sole medical condition is mental illness.
Legislation that extended the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID where a person’s sole medical condition is a mental illness was tabled last March. The delay for administering MAID to someone who suffers solely from a mental illness ends on March 17, 2024.
“This one-year extension provides the Government of Canada, Provinces and Territories, and medical regulatory bodies the additional time needed to prepare for the safe and consistent assessment and provision of MAID where the person’s sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness,” reads the government of Canada’s MAID report.
In 2022, MAID garnered international attention, particularly when it was revealed that several veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces were offered MAID unsolicitedly.
Notably, Christine Gauthier, a veteran and ex-paralympian, disclosed to a House of Commons Committee that she had been seeking assistance to install a wheelchair ramp at her home for five years. When contacting Veteran Affairs, she was instead offered MAID.
Conservative MP Ed Fast introduced Bill C-314, which would have restricted the expansion of MAID. The bill was defeated with 167 MPs voting against and 150 in favor.
