MAID cases rose to 15,000 in 2023, but growth of cases halved

A medical bed in the trauma bay during simulation training at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto on Tuesday, August 13, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin)

Ottawa -

More than 15,000 people received medical assistance in dying in Canada in 2023, but federal statistics show the growth in cases has slowed significantly.

Health Canada says in its fifth annual report on MAID that the 15,343 people who received help to die last year represented a 15.8 per cent increase from 2022.

That's about half the average annual growth rate of 31 per cent from 2019 to 2022.

The report says it cannot draw "reliable conclusions" about whether the slower increase in demand indicates a "stabilization" of the number of cases over the long term.

Health Canada says 19,660 people asked for MAID, but 2,906 died before their requests could be fulfilled, while 915 applicants were deemed ineligible and 496 withdrew their requests.

The report says natural death was "reasonably foreseeable" in about 96 per cent of people who went on to receive MAID, the median age of recipients was about 78, and cancer was the most frequently cited medical condition, at 64 per cent.

Medically assisted death in Canada is only legal for people on the basis of a physical health condition, but federal Health Minister Mark Holland has said Ottawa is looking into the feasibility of expanding the regime to include advanced requests.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2024.