Is Its Fourth-Highest Death Cause… What’s Next?
/ 2026 / … Kristoffer Hell
In 2024, being euthanised by the Canadian Government through the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) programme was the country’s fourth most prevalent cause of death, surpassing stroke. Why is the programme expanding so fast? Is the number of terminally ill people on the rise in Canada? What are the plans for the future?
Since Ottawa made it legal in 2016 for medical professionals to kill patients intentionally, an estimated 106,308 people have been put to death. In 2024 alone, 16,499 people died by euthanasia. That equates to 5.1 per cent of all deaths in Canada that year, or about one every 32 minutes; roughly 45 per day.
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