The report states that 3.3 per cent of all deaths in Canada in 2021 were assisted deaths. Provincially, the rate was higher in provinces such as Quebec, at 4.7 percent, and British Columbia, at 4.8 percent. “It’s growing remarkably quickly,” University of Toronto law professor Trudeau Lemens, who was a member of the Canadian Academies Council’s Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying, wrote in an email to CTV News. they have matched or quickly surpassed rates in Belgium and the Netherlands, where the practice has been in place for more than two decades. Advocates say it’s not surprising because Canadians are becoming more comfortable with MAID and some expect rising rates may level off. “The … expectation has always been that (the rate) will be about four to five percent, (like in) Europe. We will probably, in the end, leave at about the same rate,” said Dr. Jean Marmoreo, family physician and MAID provider in Toronto. The report uses data collected from records submitted by doctors, nurses and pharmacists across the country regarding written MAID requests. Among the findings:
All provinces saw an increase in MAID deaths, ranging from 1.2 per cent (Newfoundland & Labrador) to a high of 4.8 per cent (British Columbia). More men (52.3 percent) than women (47.7 percent) received MAID. The mean age was 76.3 years. Sixty-five percent of those who received assisted dying had cancer. Heart disease or stroke was reported in 19 percent of cases, followed by chronic lung disease (12 percent) and neurological conditions such as ALS (12 percent). Just over two percent of assisted deaths were offered to a younger group of patients: those with chronic illnesses but not dying from their conditions, with new legislation in 2021 allowing expanded access to MAID.
The documents show that 81 percent of written requests for MAID were approved.
Thirteen percent of patients died before MAID was administered, while nearly 2% withdrew their application before the procedure was offered. 4 percent of people who submitted written requests for medical assistance were denied. The report says some were deemed ineligible because evaluators felt the patient did not voluntarily apply for MAID. The majority of requests were denied because the patients were deemed not mentally competent to make the decision. But other countries with long-standing programs reject far more requests for assisted dying, Lemmens said, citing data showing that 12 to 16 percent of applicants in the Netherlands say no. “It may be an indication that the restrictions (in my view safeguards) are weaker here than in more liberal euthanasia regimes,” he wrote in his email to CTV News. But Marmoreo, which has been offering MAID since 2016, sees Canada’s low rejection rate differently. “It’s more like the right cases are being put forward,” he said. “We have a very good screening process from the start. So before people even make a formal request to assist in dying, they have a lot of information given to them from recruitment… here’s what’s involved when you’re looking for assisted dying, you have to meet these eligibility criteria’.
