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Trends for two selected grouped causes of death, 2000 to 2007

  1. From 2000 to 2007, the number of deaths caused by major cardiovascular diseases has been declining, while the number of deaths caused by cancer has been rising.
  2. The impact of these opposing trends is that in 2007, the number of deaths caused by cancer surpassed those caused by major cardiovascular diseases.
  3. For males, deaths caused by cancer surpassed deaths caused by major cardiovascular diseases in 2005.
  4. Female deaths caused by cancer were still fewer than major cardiovascular diseases deaths in 2007.
  5. In 2007, these two selected grouped causes of death were responsible for 59% of all deaths in Canada.
Table 1
Deaths due to cancer and to major cardiovascular diseases, Canada, 2000 to 2007

Age-standardized mortality rates for cancer and cardiovascular diseases, 2000 to 2007

  1. To control for the impact of population aging, comparisons over time are made using the "age-standardized mortality rate." This removes the effect of differences in the age structure of populations among areas and over time.
  2. From 2000 to 2004, the age-standardized mortality rates for major cardiovascular diseases and cancer converged. In 2005, the cancer standardized mortality rate surpassed that for major cardiovascular diseases.
  3. For males, the cancer standardized mortality rate surpassed that for major cardiovascular diseases in 2006. For females, it was in 2003 that the standardized cancer mortality rate surpassed that for major cardiovascular diseases.
Chart 1
Age-standardized mortality rates for cancer and for major cardiovascular diseases, Canada, 2000 to 2007

Selected categories of cancer deaths by sex, 2007

  1. Four selected categories for primary sites of cancer – lung, prostate, breast and colon – were responsible for 50% of all cancer deaths and 15% of all deaths in Canada in 2007.
  2. In 2007, 10,439 males died of lung cancer, representing 29% of all male deaths caused by cancer. Colon cancer was responsible for 11% and prostate cancer was responsible for 10% of all male deaths caused by cancer.
  3. In 2007, of female deaths caused by cancer, 25% were caused by lung cancer, 15% by breast cancer and 11% by colon cancer.
Table 2
Deaths for selected categories of cancer by sex, Canada, 2007