15,000 Canadians Died by Euthanasia in 2023: Health Canada

A nurse monitors a patient from outside his room at St. Paul's hospital in downtown Vancouver on April 21, 2020. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

More than 15,000 people received medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada in 2023, an increase of roughly 15 percent from the previous year, according to a Health Canada report.

The fifth annual report summarizes the scope of MAID requests and assessments across the country, using information drawn from physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, MAID assessors, and pharmacy technicians. It was released Dec. 11.

This year’s report also includes more details on who is requesting MAID, and any alternative support services or health interventions that were offered.

A total of 15,343 people were given MAID among 19,660 applications made to Health Canada in 2023, the report says. From the applications received, 2,906 individuals died before MAID could be administered. Another 496 people withdrew their MAID request, and 915 were deemed ineligible.

Although there has been an increase in the number of individuals accessing MAID, the overall rate of growth has slowed, Health Canada said.

“The number of MAID provisions in 2023 represents an increase of 15.8 percent over 2022. This represents a slowing over previous years (2019 to 2022) which had an average growth rate of approximately 31 percent,” the report said.

Two tracks are available for MAID: track one for those whose death is “reasonably foreseeable” and track two for those who are living with a chronic condition or illness, but whose death is not necessarily foreseeable.

Applicants for track one have a median age of 77 and are nearly evenly split between men and women, Health Canada said. Nearly 52 percent of requests are from men and 48 percent are from women. A significant majority—64 percent of requests—come from cancer patients.

The median age in track two was 75, with women accounting for 58.5 percent and men for 41.5 percent of applicants.

Neurological conditions and “other” conditions such as diabetes, frailty, autoimmune conditions, and chronic pain were the most commonly cited underlying medical conditions among this group, the report said. Individuals in track two were also more likely to have a disability compared to track one applicants, with reported rates of 58.3 percent and 33.5 percent, respectively.

Who’s Receiving MAID?

Caucasians were the most likely to request MAID, Health Canada’s report found. Nearly 96 percent of applicants were white and 1.8 percent were East Asian.

The report also breaks down the ages of those applying for MAID under each category. The largest age group represented in track two was those between 75 and 84 at 29.4 percent followed by the 65 to 74 demographic at 26.4 percent of requests and the 85 and older group, which accounted for 20.7 percent of requests.

Applications for those aged 55 to 64 came in at 12.2 percent while those between 45 and 54 years of age made up 7.2 percent of those seeking the procedure, the report found.

Health Canada also looked into the socioeconomic background of applicants, finding that track two applicants are most likely to be from lower income households, living in neighbourhoods that are considered “unstable,” meaning a higher number of renters, more apartment buildings, more single individuals, and a higher number of those who have recently moved.

Those in lower income neighbourhoods are more likely to access MAID, with 24 percent of those in track one from the lowest income level compared with 17.8 percent of those in the highest income level. For track two applicants, these numbers were 28.3 percent and 15.8 percent respectively.

Provincial Data

Quebec topped the list of MAID recipients with 5,601 applicants, accounting for 36.5 percent of all MAID requests in Canada. Ontario ranked second with 4,644 people applying for MAID, representing 30.3 percent of total applicants.

British Columbia came in third at 2,759 MAID applications accounting for 18 percent and Alberta applications represented 6.4 percent with 944 individuals from that province applying for MAID in 2023.

Nova Scotia had 359 applicants for MAID at 2.3 percent, and Saskatchewan represented 2.2 percent of MAID applications with 344 people requesting it.

New Brunswick represented 1.9 percent of MAID applications, totalling 299 cases, while Manitoba followed with 227 applications, constituting 1.5 percent of the total.

Newfoundland and Labrador had 72 applications, representing 0.5 percent of total cases. Prince Edward Island was at the bottom with 44 cases or 0.3 percent.

Data from the Yukon and North West Territories was not included in the report.

A total of 60,301 people have received MAID since 2016, according to Health Canada.

Increasing Number of Physicians Perform MAID

The report also found that the number of medical professionals performing MAID in 2023 was nearly three times that of 2019.

There were 2,200 MAID practitioners in 2023, with 94.5 percent being physicians and 5.5 percent being nurse practitioners, according to Health Canada. Just four years earlier there were 1,271 practitioners performing MAID.

A group of 89 practitioners was responsible for 35.1 percent of track one applications and 28.6 percent of track two cases, Health Canada said. Additionally, 73.2 percent of track two cases were approved by two practitioners without seeking the input of a third assessor, the report said.

A Dec. 12 survey from Angus Reid found that 40 percent of Canadians say physicians should not broach the topic of MAID unless a patient initiates the conversation, while 43 percent said doctors should be free to introduce the option.