2022 Projection: 13,500 euthanasia deaths in Canada

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Daily Mail contacted the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition wondering about our projections for the number of Canadian 2022 euthanasia deaths. EPC has published articles reporting the number of 2022 euthanasia deaths in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, Québec and recently we found the Nova Scotia data. Based on the known data I suggested that there were likely 13,500 Canadian euthanasia deaths in 2022.

The article by James Reinl, the social affairs columnist for the Daily Mail reported  the following on June 7:

Canada has seen another record-busting year of euthanasia deaths, with a 35 percent rise to some 13,500 state-sanctioned suicides in 2022, an analysis of official data shows.

Canada's health chiefs won't release their formal tally for some weeks, but data from Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and Nova Scotia already show steep rises in euthanasia deaths last year.

Based on those numbers, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, a campaign group, assessed that Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) cases rose from 10,064 in 2021 to some 13,500 in 2022.

The article quotes me as saying:

Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Coalition, said euthanasia rates were 'skyrocketing' because a 'heavy promotion of MAiD within our medical system' had 'normalized' lethal injections.

'Every major healthcare institution has a MAiD team which will literally approach everyone who may qualify for MAiD and ask them if they want to die,' Schadenberg told DailyMail.com.

The article interviewed Daniel Zekfeld from ARPA who tells Reinl:

'Instead of normalizing euthanasia and accepting the deaths of thousands of Canadians, Canada needs to promote suicide prevention and life-affirming care for all.'

Reinl explains that the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition projections are based on the big increase in euthanasia deaths in Ontario, Québec and Alberta. (Notice that British Columbia, which had the highest euthanasia rate in 2021, has not released it's data). Reinl reports:

Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec are among Canada's most populous provinces.

All recorded big increases in adults with a serious illness, disease, or disability opting for euthanasia last year.

Quebec saw a 51 percent uptick in MAiD deaths, from 2,427 in financial year 2021 to 3,663 in 2022.

The Québec government reported in February 2023 that 7% of all deaths in 2022 were euthanasia.

Reinl comments on the recent parliamentary report advocating for Canada to expand euthanasia to "mature minors" by advanced directive. He continued by reporting on how euthanasia in Canada has come to its current reality including the fact that parliament amended the law in 2021 to remove the requirement that a person be terminally ill in order to be killed by euthanasia.

Reinl reports on his interview with me where I told him some stories from people who felt pressured into asking for euthanasia. Reinl states:

Schadenberg said MAiD teams in clinics were aggressively pushing for sick people to opt for euthanasia.

He described cases of medics asking terminally sick people as many as five times if they wanted to end their lives. In some cases, they asked them when relatives were present, and again when alone, Schadenberg said.

'The selling of MAiD by the MAiD teams is a big reason why the numbers are skyrocketing.

'If you're going to pay people to be on a MAiD team, they will sell what they are offering,' Schadenberg said.

Reinl completes the article by explaining that in Canada euthanasia deaths have increased by approximately 33% per year.

More articles on this topic:

• Ontario 2022 euthanasia deaths increase by 27% (Link).
•  Alberta 2022 euthanasia deaths increase by 40% (Link).
•  Quebec has the highest euthanasia rate in the world (Link).