Statistics Canada is reporting younger Canadians experienced the highest percentage of excess mortality nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic..Data provided by Statistics Canada shows since March 2020, there were an average 7% more deaths than expected for all ages..For Canadians under 45, 19% more deaths occurred..The dataset from Statistics Canada only includes the period between January 2020 and early August of this year.."Between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, there were 323,220 deaths reported in Canada," Statistics Canada stated.."Overall, the annual number of deaths recorded in Canada experienced an increase between 2001 and 2022.".This trend remained mostly consistent up until the last available data in August, with the monthly excess mortality often reaching over 30%..In early 2022, trends in excess mortality were observed across all age groups, but were relatively higher among those younger than 45..At the national level, for those younger than 45, there were 15.6% more deaths than expected in January, compared with if there were no pandemic. In contrast, there were 12.8% more deaths than expected for those aged 45 and older over the same month..This disparity between the age groups was particularly pronounced in the westernmost provinces..For those younger than 45, deaths in January 2022 were 35.9% higher than expected in Saskatchewan, 51.6% higher than expected in Alberta and 48.7% higher than expected in British Columbia..By comparison, among those aged 45 years and older, deaths were 17.6% higher in Saskatchewan, 18.8% higher in Alberta and 21.0% higher in BC.."While it is still too early to know causes of death for January 2022, as these data are not yet available, it is important to recall that excess mortality measures both the direct and the indirect impacts of the pandemic," Statistics Canada said.."Since the start of the pandemic, it has been observed many excess deaths among younger Canadians may be attributable to other causes, such as overdoses.".With the onset of new variants of concern, including Omicron, the number of deaths attributable directly to COVID-19 could increase for that age group as well, Statistics Canada noted..Provisional data show an estimated 50,443 excess deaths in Canada from the end of March 2020 to the beginning of August 2022, 7.3% more deaths than expected had there not been a pandemic..The federal agency says at least 41,480 of the deaths were directly attributed to COVID-19..Statistics Canada suggested "other factors are driving excess mortality" among younger Canadians.."To understand the direct and indirect consequences of the pandemic, it is important to measure excess mortality, which occurs when there are more deaths than expected in a given period," Statistics Canada reported.."It should be noted even without a pandemic, there is always some year-to-year variation in the number of deaths.".Deaths attributed to unintentional (accidental) poisonings and exposure to noxious substances, including overdoses from prescription, over-the-counter, and illicit substances, have risen since the beginning of the pandemic..Provisional data at the national level shows there were 4,605 deaths attributed to accidental poisoning and exposure to noxious substances in 2020 and 6,235 deaths in 2021, and these numbers will increase with future revisions to the data..By contrast, at the previous height of the overdose crisis in 2017, 4,830 deaths were attributed to unintentional poisonings.."Younger age groups made up a disproportionate number of deaths from overdoses," Statistics Canada said..Among individuals younger than 45, there were 2,640 deaths in 2020 and 3,560 in 2021, while among those 45 to 64 years, there were 1,735 deaths in 2020 and 2,320 in 2021..By comparison, among individuals aged 65 years and older, accidental poisoning attributed to 230 deaths in 2020 and 350 in 2021..Alcohol-induced mortality also increased during the pandemic..There were 3,790 alcohol-induced deaths in Canada in 2020 and 3,860 in 2021, compared with 3,200 in the year preceding the pandemic..The effects of this increase were felt most among those aged younger than 65 years, who saw a 27% increase (1,955 to 2,490) in the number of such deaths from 2019 to 2020, compared with a 4% increase (1,245 to 1,300) among those aged 65 years and older..The number of alcohol-induced deaths in 2021 for both groups remained similar to that observed in 2020 (2,515 and 1,345 deaths, respectively).
