MAID Would Rank as Canada's Fourth-Leading Cause

Health Canada and Statistics Canada figures show assisted dying deaths would rank fourth in 2024 if counted as a separate cause.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Cancer

Isometric editorial illustration of a clear glass jar holding grey stones sorted into four groups, one stack taller, on a cream field. — Health Canada and Statistics Canada figures show medical assistance in dying would rank as the country's fourth-leading cause of death in 2024 if counted separately. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should Canada continue expanding access to medical assistance in dying?

Health Canada and Statistics Canada figures for 2024 show medical assistance in dying (MAID) would rank as the country's fourth-leading cause of death if it were counted separately. Statistics Canada instead records these deaths under the underlying medical conditions that led people to seek assisted dying.

Why it matters

Because MAID deaths are already included in totals for other causes, the reported ranking of Canada's leading causes of death does not show assisted dying as its own category. Canadians reviewing mortality data across the country would need to account for that counting method to understand how many deaths MAID represents.

Statistics Canada reported 85,589 cancer deaths, 57,982 heart disease deaths and 20,415 accident deaths in 2024, with 16,499 Canadians receiving MAID that year. Data on how MAID trends are changing over time was not included in the source.

The players

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada is the national statistical agency that compiles official mortality data and counts deaths under underlying medical conditions.

Health Canada

Health Canada is the federal department responsible for health policy and reporting on medical assistance in dying.

The details

Statistics Canada records deaths involving MAID under the medical conditions that led people to seek assisted dying, so those deaths are counted within other causes rather than as a separate category. Health Canada and Statistics Canada figures show MAID would rank fourth among Canada's causes of death for 2024 if it were counted on its own.

2024: Canada's leading causes of death and MAID totals were recorded.

Health Landscape

The ranking reflects Statistics Canada's convention of attributing MAID deaths to the underlying medical conditions rather than to a separate cause. This counting approach determines how assisted dying appears alongside cancer, heart disease and other leading causes in national mortality reporting.

For Canadians, the counting method means assisted dying deaths are folded into totals for conditions such as cancer and heart disease rather than shown separately. Readers comparing causes of death across provinces should note that MAID age gaps were largest in Quebec, New Brunswick and Alberta, where the median age of those receiving MAID sat about five years below life expectancy.

The takeaway

Canadians looking at national death statistics should check how each cause is counted, since MAID deaths sit inside other categories. Reviewing the underlying conditions behind those totals gives a clearer picture of the causes behind the numbers.