Are Canadians aware how quickly and broadly euthanasia has spread and expanded since its legalization in 2016?

“MAiD has continued to rise year over year,” Rebecca Vachon, program director for Health at Cardus, tells 100 Huntley Street. “Work that Cardus has done has shown that we have the fastest-growing assisted dying program in the world. We are now only second to the Netherlands in terms of euthanasia or MAiD deaths as a percentage of total deaths.”

Vachon also notes that in striking down Canada’s criminal ban on euthanasia in 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada suggested that death by euthanasia would be for rare and exceptional cases. However, by 2023 euthanasia had become routine in Canada, accounting for almost 5 percent of all deaths in the country.