Québec Euthanasia deaths more than double in two years.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Québec's Seventh Annual Euthanasia Report was released on Friday December 9 indicating that the number of euthanasia deaths more than doubled in two years and the percentage of deaths attributed to euthanasia has already surpassed the Netherlands.

According to the euthanasia report from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, there were 3663 reported euthanasia deaths representing 5.1% of all deaths in Québec. The number of euthanasia deaths were up from 2426 in 2020/21 and 1774 in 2019/20. Therefore the number of reported euthanasia deaths was up by more than 50% in the last year and it more than doubled over the past two years.

A CBC news Montreal report stated that:

Since the start of the pandemic, requests for the procedure have more than doubled — from 1,774 in 2019-2020 to 3,663 in 2021-22.

The increase means the percentage of people who chose MAID in Quebec is greater than in Belgium and the Netherlands, where it has been legal for decades. It has been legal in Quebec since 2015.

Between April 2021 and March 2022, 5.1 per cent of deaths in the province were medically assisted. In the Netherlands, 4.8 per cent of deaths were due to MAID and in Belgium, it was 2.3, according to Dr. Michel Bureau, the chair of Quebec's commission on end-of-life care.

Bureau said he was surprised by the rapid increase in the number of requests for MAID in Quebec. In his opinion, the increase could be explained by the fact that MAID is being presented to patients as care, not euthanasia.

The fact that the number of euthanasia deaths continues to increase exponentially is related to the normalization of killing and the change in the law permitting people who are not dying to be killed by euthanasia.

For instance in October a man in Lachine QC who lives with quadriplegia was seeking euthanasia (MAiD) because of the failure of his home care service to provide his basic needs.

The report also indicated that the euthanasia rate differed throughout Québec. According to CBC news:

The proportion of deaths due to MAID varies greatly from one region to another in Quebec. In the Lanaudière and Lower St. Lawrence regions, nearly nine per cent of people who died in 2021-2022 received MAID. In Montreal, it was less than four per cent.

The acceptance rate for requests for medical assistance in dying also varies greatly from one region to another. For example, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, 98 per cent of patients who applied for MAID were granted it. In Quebec City, the proportion dropped to 75 per cent and in Montreal, it was only 54 per cent.

A further analysis of the Quebec report will be published soon.

• Quebec 2021 euthanasia report. Euthanasia deaths increased by 37% (Link).