The element this page anchors.
The headline numbers.
The annual trajectory.
Each year of the programme has set a new record. The Health Canada annual report (the only audited cumulative source) reports the figures below.
| Year | MAID deaths | % all Canadian deaths | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | ~1,018 | 0.4% | Programme begins; mid-year start |
| 2017 | 2,838 | 1.0% | Full first year |
| 2018 | 4,478 | 1.6% | +58% YoY |
| 2019 | 5,665 | 2.0% | |
| 2020 | 7,611 | 2.4% | |
| 2021 | 10,092 | 3.3% | First year above 10k. Bill C-7 expansion enters force March 2021. |
| 2022 | 13,241 | 4.1% | +31% YoY |
| 2023 | 15,343 | 4.7% | |
| 2024 | 16,499 | 5.1% | Latest confirmed year |
| Total | 76,475+ | cumulative | Health Canada 6th Annual Report cumulative |
The growth rate is now declining (from +58% / +31% YoY to +7.5% in 2024). This is not the programme being reined in. It is the programme reaching a steady state — a per-capita rate higher than any other jurisdiction with euthanasia legislation worldwide. By the standard Statistics Canada uses for cancer mortality, MAID is now in the top-five proximate causes of death in Canada.
Track 2 — death without terminal illness.
Bill C-7 (S.C. 2021, c.2) created Track 2: a pathway for MAID where death is not "reasonably foreseeable." This was the legislative inflection. Track 2 patients are typically living with chronic conditions — disability, mental illness (still in the implementation queue), severe chronic pain, multiple chemical sensitivities, complex care needs.
Health Canada's own data documents the social environment these patients are dying in:
| Track 2 patient circumstance (2024) | Share of cases | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cited "isolation or loneliness" as a contributing factor | 35.3% | Health Canada 5th Annual Report data |
| Cited inability to access disability supports | 18%+ | Track 2 case-narrative analysis |
| In lowest housing-stability quintile | ~48% | Track 2 case-narrative analysis |
| Reported financial hardship as a factor | ~17% | Health Canada 5th Annual Report data |
| Receiving disability supports below livable level | ~30%+ | Track 2 case-narrative analysis |
"The government sees me as expendable." — 51-year-old Ontario woman with multiple chemical sensitivities, who received MAID in 2022 after years of being unable to find affordable accommodating housing. Reported by CTV News and multiple outlets at the time.
The pattern is consistent across multiple Track 2 cases reported by CTV, CBC, the Globe and Mail, and the Disability Without Poverty coalition: applicants describe being unable to obtain housing, supports, or services — and choose MAID because the alternative is destitution. This is not a hypothetical. The cases are named.
The Article II intent test.
Five facts from this page's data, taken together, establish the elements of the test:
- Knowledge. The Government of Canada publishes the annual MAID death toll. Each cabinet, each minister, each MP voted on the next year's legislation knowing the previous year's number.
- Means. Per-MAID-death savings projected by the Parliamentary Budget Officer at $149M/year before Bill C-7 expansion. Federal program spending in fiscal 2024–25 was over $480B. The means to fund alternatives existed.
- Choice. Bill C-7 expanded eligibility after the death toll was known. Cabinet has chosen to leave Track 2 in force. Mental-illness MAID is delayed, not removed from law. The disability supports that would give Track 2 patients alternatives have not been funded.
- Pattern. The dominant Track 2 narrative is patients unable to access housing, accommodation, and income supports. The state could provide those supports and chose otherwise.
- Comparator. Veterans offered MAID by Veterans Affairs caseworkers. ACVA committee testimony and the Christine Gauthier (Paralympian) case are on the record. See veterans-maid.html.
What this is and is not.
This page is not anti-MAID-as-such. The moral and clinical question of medical assistance in dying for competent adults with terminal illness is a different debate from the legal question this site documents.
This page is about the state's choice. A state that systematically funds the death-pathway and systematically underfunds the live-with-support pathway — for affected populations who have repeatedly testified they would choose to live if alternatives existed — is a state where the Article II(a) intent inference becomes available on the record. That is not opinion. That is the legal test.
Pages that connect to this one.
Sources.
- Health Canada — Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada (1st through 6th editions, 2019–2025). The audited cumulative source for all MAID totals on this page. The 6th Annual Report (Nov 2025) covers 2024 data and corrects prior-year totals where necessary. canada.ca — annual MAID reports
- Bill C-14 (S.C. 2016, c.3). Original MAID legislation under Track 1 (death reasonably foreseeable). laws-lois.justice.gc.ca — 2016 c.3
- Bill C-7 (S.C. 2021, c.2). Track 2 — eliminated the "reasonably foreseeable death" requirement. laws-lois.justice.gc.ca — 2021 c.2
- Criminal Code of Canada — section 241 et seq. Statutory exceptions to homicide for medical assistance in dying. laws-lois.justice.gc.ca — C-46 s.241
- Statistics Canada — total mortality. Denominator for the 5.1% figure. statcan — total deaths
- Parliamentary Budget Officer — Cost Estimate for Bill C-7. Pre-expansion fiscal-savings projection. pbo-dpb.ca — C-7 cost estimate
- UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities — Communication on Canada (2024). Called for repeal of the Track 2 expansion. ohchr.org — disability special rapporteur
- Disability Without Poverty / Inclusion Canada — submissions. Coalition submissions documenting Track 2 patient circumstances.
- CBC News, CTV News, the Globe and Mail — Track 2 case reporting (2022–2024). Named-case reporting on Track 2 applicants citing housing/disability-support gaps as motivation.