Most assisted deaths in Canada come after cancer diagnosis, annual report finds

FILE — A screen displays a patient's vital signs during open heart surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore on Nov. 28, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Patrick Semansky

OTTAWA — Most people who chose medical assistance in dying in 2024 had a cancer diagnosis and were over the age of 70, new data from Health Canada shows.

The country’s annual report on medical assistance in dying, better known as MAID, shows that more Canadians are choosing assisted dying every year.

In all, 76,475 people received assisted death since it became legal in 2016.

In 2024, 16,499 people received MAID — a figure that represents about five per cent of all deaths in Canada.

That figure was up 6.9 per cent over 2023, when 15,343 people received assisted death. The number of MAID cases grew by 15.8 per cent between 2022 to 2023.

Another 4,017 people who requested an assisted death in 2024 died before they received MAID, and 1,327 requests were deemed ineligible.

In order to be considered eligible, a person must have a “grievous and irremediable medical condition.”

The report identifies some trends in who is choosing assisted dying, and why.

The median age of those who chose MAID last year was 77.9 years. Cancer was the most frequently cited medical condition, affecting more than 63 per cent of MAID recipients. The most common types of cancer cited were lung, colorectal, pancreatic and hematologic.

About 450 people who received assisted death were diagnosed with the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Around 74 per cent of people who received MAID accessed palliative care first.

Health Canada also analyzed the socio-economic status of people who received assisted death, and found that “people who receive MAID do not disproportionately come from lower-income or disadvantaged communities.”

It did find that MAID recipients were less likely to live in remote locations and the report noted that may reflect challenges in accessing health services in remote parts of the country.

“Overall, the report suggests that eligible people across Canada are accessing this end-of-life option appropriately and that reports of disproportionate access by those who are disadvantaged are not supported by the data,” said Helen Long, the CEO of advocacy group Dying with Dignity.

More than 95 per cent of those who had an assisted death last year had a condition that made their deaths “reasonably foreseeable,” the report said.

Just 4.4 per cent were “track 2” MAID patients — people whose deaths were not deemed to be foreseeable but who said they were suffering intolerably.

Assisted death became legal in 2021 for people whose deaths were not reasonably foreseeable.

For those patients, there’s a minimum 90-day waiting period between the first assessment and the procedure.

The applicant must be informed of counselling, mental health supports, disability supports, community services and palliative care, and must be offered consultations with relevant professionals.

The applicant and two different medical practitioners also have to discuss means to relieve the person’s suffering and “agree that the person has seriously considered these means,” according to Health Canada’s website.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released a report last spring saying it is “extremely concerned” about Canada’s policy on track 2 medical assistance in dying. It asked whether proper safeguards are in place to support people with disabilities who may feel they have no other option.

Health Canada found that 0.1 per cent of those who received an assisted death last year — 163 people — reported they needed and did not receive disability support services. Of those, 149 reported that they could have accessed those services.

Around one-third of MAID recipients, just over 5,300 people, said they required and received disability support services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2025.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press