MAID growth steady as number of practitioners grows before expansion next year: report

Medically assisted deaths jumped in Canada last year as part of a continuing trend since the practice was legalized in 2016 for those with a serious and incurable illness or disability, a federal report says.

Medically assisted deaths jumped by 31 per cent in Canada last year as part of a continuing trend since the practice was legalized in 2016 for those with a serious and incurable illness or disability, a federal report says.

Health Canada says in the report that 13,241 people chose medical assistance in dying (MAID) in 2022, for a total of 44,958 deaths so far, and that the average annual growth rate has been 31 per cent from 2019 to 2022.

The fourth annual report comes before MAID is expected to expand next spring to include people with a mental disorder as the sole underlying condition, though some psychiatrists are calling for more addiction and mental health services.

The report says 63 per cent of people who received MAID last year had cancer and 19 per cent had heart conditions. All provinces except Manitoba and Yukon continued to experience a steady year-over-year growth in MAID.

It says nearly 78 per cent of patients received palliative care, a level similar to the previous three years, and that half of patients got that care for a month or more, similar to the level reported in 2021.

Nearly 20 per cent of MAID recipients did not receive palliative care, but almost 88 per cent had access to it.

"The receipt of palliative care services is more common amongst individuals with a main condition of cancer, while disability support services were more commonly received by individuals suffering from a neurological condition," says the report, released Tuesday.