15,000 people die in Canada whilst on waiting list for health care

Image credit: Greg Rosenke via Unsplash

Over 15,000 people in Canada died whilst they were on the waiting list for health care treatment, new data has revealed.

SecondStreet.org recently released government data that revealed that almost 15,500 people had died between 1st April 2023, and 31st March 2024, whilst they were on a waiting list. This includes a waiting list for treatments, such as cancer treatments and surgeries, and diagnostic scans, such as MRIs.

However, SecondStreet.org said that not all provinces in Canada provided complete data. Some provinces did not include diagnostic waiting lists in their data, whereas others did not track the problem. They have estimated that if data was complete, over 28,000 people would have died whilst on a waiting list in Canada during that period.

“Canadians pay really high taxes and yet our health care system is failing when compared to better-performing universal systems in Europe,” said SecondStreet.org’s legislative and policy director, Harrison Fleming.

“Thousands of Canadians across the country find themselves on waitlists – in some cases for several years – with too many tragically dying before ever getting treated, or even diagnosed,” he added.

Furthermore, according to LifeNews, Canada recently released their fifth annual report on their Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) program, which confirmed that over 15,000 people availed of assisted suicide in 2023.

Canada made assisted suicide legal in 2016 with certain restrictions, however in recent times, Canada have been repealing some restrictions, and has subsequently seen a rise in those availing of assisted suicide. This has given rise to concern over people being pressured into assisted suicide when they otherwise want treatment. Life Institute recently reported on a case of a woman who was offered assisted suicide moments before she was to undergo lifesaving surgery for breast cancer. 

Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented, saying: “This is deeply shocking and saddening that over 15,000 people in Canada were not treated with the dignity and respect they deserved by being given the timely treatment they needed for what clearly was a life-threatening issue”

She added that the recent report on the assisted suicide rates for 2023 were also “devastating” but that it “sadly seems that by allowing assisted suicide into their country, Canada have gone down that slippery slope where they are failing to care for their own people, and instead pushing a narrative that you are better off dead. People who are sick deserve to be treated with dignity, love and care, by being given timely treatment and not pushed into a belief that their sickness somehow makes their life meaningless.”