Medically Assisted Suicide Accounts for Over 1 in 10 Deaths in Parts of Canada
Rates are rising across the country, with one region reporting over 13% of deaths from the program.
Medically assisted suicide now represents more than one in ten deaths in certain regions of Canada, with rates showing an upward trend nationwide. In the Lanaudière region of Quebec, north of Montreal, assisted deaths constituted 13.4% of all fatalities in 2025, according to official records. Across Quebec, the second most populous province, 6,268 individuals died by assisted suicide in the same year, accounting for nearly 8% of all deaths in the province of 8.5 million people.
These figures align with broader national trends. In British Columbia, assisted dying accounted for over 7% of deaths, totaling 3,189 out of 44,000. Nationwide, approximately one in twenty deaths resulted from assisted suicide. Between 2016, when the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program was enacted, and 2024, a total of 76,475 people died through the program. The median age for those receiving MAID in 2024 was approximately 78 years old. Experts anticipate that the total number of MAID deaths has likely surpassed 100,000 since the law's inception ten years ago.
Canada's aging population and declining birth rates, coupled with its universal healthcare system, have led to increasing wait times for specialized medical care. In 2025, the average wait time to see a specialist was 28.6 weeks, according to the Fraser Institute. For orthopedic surgery, the wait time reached 48 weeks.
Dr. Ramona Coelho of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute expressed concern that what began as an exceptional measure has become a normalized part of clinical practice. She noted that the program marks a significant shift in how medicine perceives suffering, autonomy, and its purpose, raising questions about whether the focus is shifting from healing to evaluating suffering as justification for death.
Critics of the MAID program have voiced fears that individuals unable to make decisions for themselves could be subjected to assisted death. There have been reported cases where individuals allegedly received MAID against their wishes or in states where their decision-making capacity was questioned. For instance, an 83-year-old woman reportedly expressed regret and confusion about her request shortly before her assisted death. In another case, a 26-year-old man with diabetes, vision problems, and depression was approved for MAID on the same day he applied, despite his family's assertions that he was not in a condition to make such a decision.
However, the majority of MAID deaths, over 95% in 2024, were classified as "Track 1," meaning the patients' deaths were reasonably foreseeable. Out of 22,535 applicants in 2024, 16,499 were approved and died by assisted suicide.
A key distinction between Canada's MAID system and assisted suicide laws in some U.S. states, such as New York, is that Canadian doctors administer the lethal drugs directly. In contrast, under laws in states like Oregon and California, physicians may only prescribe the drugs, with the patient responsible for self-administration.