‘Assisted dying’ now constitutes the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada.

A new study conducted by research body Cardus, found the number of Canadians being killed by “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) has risen thirteenfold since legalisation. In 2016, the number dying in this way was 1,018. In 2022, the last year for which data are available, the number was 13,241.

The Canadian scheme is now the world’s fastest-growing euthanasia/assisted suicide program.

It is tied with cerebrovascular diseases as the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada. Only cancer, heart disease, Covid-19, and accidents exceed the number of deaths from MAiD.

MAiD assessors and providers are increasingly failing to treat it as a last resort. The percentage of requests that are denied continues to decline (currently it is just 3.5 percent). Such requests can even be assessed and provided in a single day.

Figures for 2023 may be even worse, with more than 15,000 people lethally injected according to preliminary data.