5th Leading Cause of Death in Canada

5th Leading Cause of Death in Canada

As of 2022, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) became the fifth leading cause of death in Canada, accounting for 4.1% of all deaths, or approximately 13,241 individuals. Just let that sink in.

This staggering statistic places MAiD just behind cancer, heart disease, COVID-19, and accidents—and ahead of strokes and chronic respiratory diseases.

Sadly—and notably—Statistics Canada does not officially classify MAiD as a cause of death. Instead, MAiD-related deaths are attributed to the underlying illness that led to the request for assisted dying. As a result, official mortality data does not reflect MAiD as a distinct category, despite its growing prevalence.

Since its legalization in 2016, the number of MAiD deaths has increased thirteenfold by 2022, sparking fierce debates around the ethical, medical, and social implications of assisted dying in Canada.

In 2016, a new Canadian government came into power with a campaign centered on legalizing cannabis and physician-assisted suicide. That policy, once narrowly defined, has since evolved—rebranded multiple times—ultimately becoming what we now call Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

I remember how this bill was introduced—just like in other countries that have legalized MAiD. It was framed as a rare, compassionate option only for competent adults facing a terminal, incurable illness. That’s how it always starts.

Today, France is considering a similar bill, which would allow adults suffering from incurable conditions and unbearable pain to request assisted death. The proposal includes strict criteria:

• The person must be a French citizen or resident,

• Have a short- or medium-term life expectancy,

• Possess full mental capacity,

• And undergo both medical and psychological evaluation.

Back in Canada, June 2025, government pamphlets are reportedly circulating in public offices with a shocking message: children over the age of 12 no longer need to wait the typical 6 to 18 months for mental health care appointments. Instead, they can book a MAiD appointment in as little as three months.

Is this not deeply disturbing?

We all should be alarmed. What is driving this growing urgency—this willingness—to end human life, especially the lives of vulnerable young people? What happened to healing, to support, to hope? Since when did offering death become easier than offering care?

As a survivor of suicide for nearly four decades, I’m deeply concerned by how many Canadians—and people around the world—seem to be asleep at the wheel when it comes to MAiD. If we don’t speak up now, we risk losing even more lives to a system that appears to give up on people too quickly.

But there is another way. The only real way to push back against MAiD as a solution is to educate people, support them, and let them know they are not alone. We need to raise up a generation that understands the value of every human life—no matter how broken or dark things may seem.

Let’s become a society that notices people in pain, that listens, that reaches out, that cares.

Yes, we live in a tough world. I get it. We all face lows and dark days. But we need each other. We need to stick together and rediscover what it means to look out for one another.

No human life should be lost to MAiD.

Let’s rebuild mental health resilience, and remind each other—especially the young—that there’s always a way forward, and they don’t have to walk it alone.

We can do this—together.

Warmly, Your friend,

Bill Vassilopoulos