Assisted suicide death toll increased to more than 16,000 in Canada last year, report says 

More than 16,000 people in Canada died from assisted suicide in 2024, newly released government data indicates, an increase of 6.9% from the previous year. 

The data was released by Canada’s government in its Sixth Annual Report on the practice, which it refers to as Medical Aid in Dying (MAID).

Health Canada received 22,535 requests for assisted suicide in 2024 and granted a majority – 16,499 – of the requests. Only 1,327 were deemed ineligible, while the others either died of another cause or withdrew their requests. 

While the death toll increased from the previous year by 6.9%, Canada’s government suggests the numbers are “beginning to stabilize” since the annual rate of growth is decreasing. Between 2019 to 2020, for instance, the numbers surged by 36.8%.

Despite the government touting the stabilizing numbers, not everyone is convinced: one activist who opposes euthanasia, Amanda Achtman, said the numbers continue “to represent a significant death toll and betrays a deeper cultural crisis of meaning and care.”  

“In less than ten years, the number of MAID deaths has overtaken the number of Canadians who died from Covid throughout the entire pandemic,” Achtman wrote on X. “In 2024, a total of 732 people who received euthanasia were people ‘whose death was not reasonably foreseeable.’ Since Canada expanded MAID to persons with disabilities in 2021, more and more Canadians who are not imminently dying have been requesting it.”  

She notes there were 55 people who withdrew their assisted suicide requests because of someone important in their life who opposes the practice. “You can be this person! Be the one who tells someone to stay!” 

Canada’s government report separates data into two groups: Track 1, patients whose deaths are deemed as “reasonably foreseeable,” made up 95.6% of assisted suicides. Track 2, those whose natural deaths are not reasonably foreseeable, made up 4.4% – or 732 – of the assisted suicides.  

In the first group, the median age of patients receiving assisted suicide was 78 years old, and cancer was the most frequent underlying medical condition. 

In the second group, for patients whose natural death was not foreseeable, neurological conditions and conditions such as diabetes, frailty, autoimmune conditions and chronic pain were commonly cited as the underlying medical condition, the report notes.  

Canada Minister of Health Marjorie Michel credited health officials with working to ensure “MAID services are safe and protect the public,” but acknowledged public debate over the issue. 

“Looking ahead, we remain focused on making sure MAID meets the needs of those seeking this service,” she said. “We are committed to ensuring that the federal legal framework protects those who are vulnerable, while supporting freedom of choice and personal autonomy.” 

Canada’s approach to assisted suicide has been the subject of fierce debate, as The Lion has reported, with some doctors warning the country is heading toward a culture of “speedy death.”   

Last year, a member of Ontario’s MAID Death Review Committee, Dr. Ramona Coelho, warned that what had been intended as a rare measure for extreme suffering was becoming all too commonplace. 

“This was initially presented as an exceptional measure for persons with intolerable suffering at the end of their life. However, our system evolved at an alarming pace, with MAID expanding far beyond its initial scope.”