Medically assisted deaths — also known as voluntary euthanasia — will account for 4.7% of deaths in Canada by 2023, new government data says.
The country’s fifth annual report since euthanasia was legalized in 2016 showed around 15,300 people were assisted in dying last year after successful applications.
The average age of this group was over 77 years. Most – about 96 percent – had deaths considered “reasonably probable”, due to serious medical conditions such as cancer.
In a small number of other cases, patients may not be terminally ill, but seek assisted dying due to a long and complex illness that has had a significant impact on their quality of life.
Canada is among the few countries that have introduced assisted dying laws in the past decade. Others include Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Austria.
In Canada, consenting adults can request medical assistance in dying from a health care provider if they have a serious and irreversible medical condition.
Other provisions apply, including a requirement that two independent health care providers certify a patient’s eligibility before their application is approved.
More than 320,000 people will die in Canada by 2023, and 15,300 of those deaths – nearly 1 in 20 – were medically assisted.
Statistics released Wednesday by Health Canada show that the rate of assisted dying in Canada will increase by nearly 16% by 2023.
The report warned that it was too early to determine what caused the decline.
For the first time, this report discussed the racial and ethnic profile of those who died of euthanasia.
About 96% of recipients identified as white, accounting for about 70% of the Canadian population. It is not clear what caused the split.
The second most reported group was East Asian (1.8%), accounting for 5.7% of Canadians.
Assisted dying continued to have the highest rate of use in Quebec, accounting for approximately 37% of all euthanasia deaths, despite the province holding only 22% of Canadians.
The Quebec government launched a study earlier this year to examine why the euthanasia rate is so high.
While the number of assisted deaths in Canada is increasing, the country still lags behind the Netherlands, where euthanasia accounted for about 5% of deaths last year.
UK MPs voted late last month to pass a similar bill giving terminally ill adults in England and Wales the right to assisted dying, although it will take months before it becomes law.
When British MPs debated the legislation, Canada was cited by some as a cautionary tale because of its lack of safeguards.
Like the UK, Canada initially only authorized assisted dying for those whose death was “reasonable”.
However, Canada is expanding access in 2021 to people who may not have a terminal diagnosis, but who want to end their life because of a chronic, debilitating condition.
It was also planned to expand access to people with mental illness earlier this year.
But that was delayed a second time after the Canadian provinces, which oversee health delivery, were delayed a second time after the Canadian provinces got involved, about whether the system could handle such an increase.
On Wednesday, Health Canada defended the process, saying the criminal code sets a “strict eligibility” criteria.
But Cardus, a Christian thinker, said the latest figures are “shocking” and show Canada has one of the fastest-growing euthanasia programs in the world.
A report released in October by Ontario – Canada’s most populous province – has already shed light on controversial cases where people are given assisted dying when they are not close to their natural death.
One example involved a woman in her 50s with a history of depression and suicidal thoughts who was highly sensitive to chemicals.
His request for euthanasia was granted after he was unable to find accommodation that would meet his medical needs.
Another case that made headlines in recent months was a Nova Scotia cancer patient who was asked if she knew about assisted dying as a double option as she was undergoing a mastectomy.
The question “came from the wrong places”, he told the National Post.
Canadian media have also reported cases where people with disabilities have considered assisted dying because of a lack of housing or disability benefits.
Clarification on December 12: The introduction to this article has been amended to clarify the fact that these statistics relate to voluntary euthanasia and to clearly and prominently describe the data base of the two groups that successfully sought assisted dying.
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