The total number of assisted suicide deaths rose by 31.2 per cent in 2022 over 2021, an annual growth rate that’s held steady since 2019. In all, MAID deaths accounted for 4.1 per cent of all deaths in Canada in 2022. In 463 cases — 3.5 per cent of the total MAID deaths in 2022 — the person’s natural death was not reasonably foreseeable. On one side, proponents say those with mental illness shouldn’t be discriminated against, or their suffering downplayed; others claim people with mental illness are uniquely vulnerable to the accessibility of assisted suicide. According to the latest annual report, the average age of those who died by MAID in 2022 was 77.
