Euthanasia has skyrocketed in Canada according to a new report, which points to a thirteenfold increase in the number of Canadians dying prematurely by “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) since its legalisation in 2016.
The report, From Exception to Routine: The Rise of Euthanasia in Canada, from Canadian think-tank, Cardus, notes that the number of people who died by euthanasia in 2016 was 1,018, which had risen to 13,241 by 2022 – the last year for which data is available.
13,241 MAiD deaths in 2022 means that on average over 36 MAiD deaths occurred per day that year and that MAiD deaths accounted for 4.2% of Canada’s total deaths in 2022.
This make’s Canada’s MAiD programme the world’s fastest-growing euthanasia programme, and MAiD the sixth leading cause of death in Canada behind cancer, heart disease, Covid-19, accidents and cerebrovascular diseases.
This fast-moving graph might shock you. ⚠️
— Cardus (@cardusca) August 7, 2024
Hit play to see the rapid rise in euthanasia in #Canada. Canada is now the world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program. 🍁
Read the full report right here: https://t.co/arFWeLzGL0 pic.twitter.com/8K0KYRQYcj
Meanwhile, preliminary data suggests around 16,000 people were euthanised in Canada in 2023.
“The systematic underestimation of MAiD in government statements and reporting is a serious impediment to understanding the scale of MAiD’s normalization in Canada and its abnormality with regard to other countries where some form of assisted dying is permitted,” the report reads.
“Internationally, Canada is increasingly an outlier, as the world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program and heading toward further liberalization of the eligibility criteria. It is difficult to understand how the Government of Canada continues to claim that the rate of MAiD in Canada is similar to rates in other jurisdictions. Understanding this growth is essential for evaluating the use and possible abuse of MAiD, particularly in light of future expansion to eligibility criteria.”
This comes as a new poll in Britain found that people fear doctors would encourage assisted suicide in order to ease pressures on the National Health Service, and that while a majority supported legalisation, they also feared it would backfire in practice.
More than four in ten of those polled (43%) said legalising assisted suicide could incentivise health professionals to encourage some patients to take their lives given the pressures on the NHS, while 37% said it would not.