Medical assistance in dying, 2023

Medical assistance in dying (MAID) data are collected by Health Canada, in accordance with the Regulations for the Monitoring of Medical Assistance in Dying. More information on MAID legislation (eligibility criteria and procedural safeguards) are available on the Health Canada website.

The 2023 microdata made available by Statistics Canada include written and/or verbal requests for MAID dated from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, and MAID provisions that occurred in 2023. The microdata from 2019 to 2022 for MAID, also made available by Statistics Canada, contain information on written requests for MAID dated January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2022, and MAID provisions that occurred in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. The data are submitted to Health Canada, directly or through a provincial or territorial body, by the physicians and nurse practitioners who assessed persons requesting MAID and/or who provided them MAID.

The Fifth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, 2023 – published by Health Canada on the state of MAID in Canada, including aggregate statistics –is available on the Health Canada website.

The microdata contain all information except for the reports by pharmacists who dispensed substances for the provision of MAID. The total counts for MAID requests and provisions in the microdata may not always match the counts reported by Health Canada or provincial and territorial governments or health authorities due to data-validation rules, late or corrected submissions, ongoing data cleaning or other updates made after the report was finalized. MAID data are subject to revisions by Health Canada

Amendments to the Regulations for the Monitoring of Medical Assistance in Dying came into force on January 1, 2023. Data collected under these new regulations will be reflected in the 2023 data being released today.