Canada Nears 100,000 MAID Deaths, Surpassing Global Totals Combined
As Canada approaches the tenth anniversary of legalizing assisted suicide, the country is on track to record its 100,000th death from Medical Assistance in Dying by early summer. This milestone not only establishes MAID as one of Canada's leading causes of death but also makes it the first modern nation to reach six figures in euthanasia-related fatalities.
Rapid Growth in MAID Cases
The projection of 100,000 MAID deaths has gained attention through anti-MAID activist Kelsi Sheren, who highlighted the figure in a recent op-ed and podcast appearance. Official data from Health Canada supports this estimate, reporting 76,475 MAID deaths as of December 31, 2024. With new cases occurring at a rate of 45 per day and 16,499 deaths recorded in 2024 alone, Canada is expected to surpass 100,000 by the first week of June, just weeks before the tenth anniversary of Bill C-14's passage on June 17.
Global Comparison and Canadian Dominance
Despite not being the first or most permissive country to legalize assisted suicide, Canada has rapidly outpaced all other jurisdictions in both case growth and total numbers. For instance, the Netherlands and Belgium introduced state-level regimes earlier, with Belgium allowing euthanasia for mental illness alone—a provision Canada plans to adopt only in 2027. However, Canada's MAID deaths surged by 36.8% in 2020 and 34.8% in 2021, reaching 9,842 annual deaths by 2021.
In contrast, other countries with legal euthanasia report modest figures. As of February 2025, there are ten such nations, most with only a few hundred total deaths. New Zealand has recorded about 1,000 since 2021, Spain 697 in its first three years, and Colombia 692 between 2015 and 2023. Even the United States, with state-level legalization since 1998 across seven states and the District of Columbia, has not matched Canada's volume.
Implications and Future Outlook
This trend positions Canada to potentially record more annual MAID deaths than the combined totals of all other countries with legal assisted suicide within a decade. The rapid growth raises significant questions about healthcare policy, ethical considerations, and societal impacts. As the milestone approaches, it underscores Canada's unique role in the global euthanasia landscape, prompting ongoing debates about the balance between individual autonomy and public health safeguards.
