A record number of people in Canada chose to end their lives in 2024 through the country's "Medical Assistance in Dying" (MAiD) law, said a new report published by the Canadian government on November 28.
In 2024, 16,499 people total died through MAiD, an increase of 6.9% over 2023's total. This now brings the number of Canadians who have died through MAiD to over 76,000 since its legalization in 2016.
This figure amounts for slightly more than one in every 20 deaths in Canada each year.
In 2021, Canada expanded the eligibility for MAiD to include people who did not have a reasonably foreseeable death, and instead had a "grievous and irremediable medical condition." These deaths are known as "Track 2" for purposes of MAiD statistics.
The number of Track 2 deaths have also increased substantially since its legalization. In 2024, there were 732 Track 2 deaths, an increase of more than 100 in 2023. In 2022, the first full year Track 2 MAiD was legal, there were 469 of these deaths. People who opt for Track 2 MAiD were more likely to be women and were younger on average than the people with "reasonably foreseeable" deaths on Track 1.
World leader in killing
Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told Aleteia that the latest report from Canada shows there are many things to be concerned about.
"Canada is becoming the world leader in killing its citizens. It is normalizing and medicalizing killing," he said.
When Canada first instituted MAiD, the practice was supposed to be "a freedom for terminally ill competent adults who are suffering," said Schadenberg. "It is now being sold to people who are not dying, who have questionable competence, and whose suffering is related to disability and the lack of supports they receive."
The report showed that nearly all (97.5% of Track 2 and 95.1% of Track 1) MAiD recipients reported they had a "loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities." The next most-cited reason for pursuing MAiD was "loss of ability to perform activities of daily living," "loss of independence," and "loss of dignity."
"Inadequate pain control, or concern about it" was reported by a considerably smaller percentage of MAiD recipients: 59.8% of Track 1 and 55.9% of Track 2. This made it the sixth-most cited reason.
Nearly half — 44.7% — of Track 2 MAiD recipients cited "isolation or loneliness" as a cause of their distress. Only about a fifth, or 21.9%, of Track 1 recipients claimed loneliness.
Canada is also poised to further expand eligibility for MAID, noted Schadenberg. Beginning in March 2027, Canadians with mental illness as a sole underlying condition will be able to receive MAID, and lawmakers "are discussing euthanasia for mature minors (children) and people who are incompetent, but made a previous request to be killed."
"Canada's euthanasia law is a warning to the world," said Schadenberg. "Don't legalize medical homicide."
