Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the largest single-year decline of life expectancy in Canada ever recorded, Statistics Canada said on Monday.
In 2020, life expectancy was 81.7 years, down 0.6 years from 82.3 years in 2019. It's the steepest decrease of life expectancy since national vital statistics started to be logged in 1921.
The largest declines in life expectancy were seen in Quebec, followed by Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia. The drop in life expectancy for men was also steeper than for women -- 0.7 years for males compared to 0.4 years for females.
A total of 16,151 Canadians died in 2020 due to COVID-19, making it the third leading cause of death that year. COVID-19 accounted for 5.3 per cent of all deaths in Canada, behind cancer and heart disease, which accounted for 26.4 per cent and 17.5 per cent of deaths, respectively.
COVID-19 wasn't the only factor that led to an increase in deaths. As pandemic-related stressors related to lockdowns, deaths and the fear of getting sick worsened the mental health of many Canadians, some turned to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism.
The mortality rate for those aged 25 to 39 was also the highest seen in 20 years, despite the fact that very few Canadians under 40 died due to COVID-19. StatCan says the increased mortality for younger age groups can be attributed to "notable increases" in deaths relating to substance use.
"The increase from 2019 to 2020 in the rate of deaths attributed to accidental poisonings was particularly acute for younger Canadians," StatCan said. The year 2020 saw 4,604 deaths due to accidental poisonings, including overdoses, compared to 3705 deaths reported in 2019.
For those under 45, alcohol-induced deaths hovered at around 360 from 2017 to 2019. But in in 2020, 542 Canadians in this age group died due to alcohol. For those aged 45 to 64, there were 1,946 alcohol-induced deaths in 2020 and 1,656 or fewer in the three years prior.
Mortality rates in lower-income neighbourhoods were also found to be much higher than elsewhere in the country, as the four leading causes of death were more common. People who lived in these neighbourhoods were 1.7 times as likely to die from COVID-19. The mortality rate for accidental injuries -- the fourth leading cause of death -- was also 1.9 times higher in these communities.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.