A shocking statistic is coming out of Canada. The country has recorded more medical assistance in dying (MAiD) deaths than the U.S. recorded firearm homicides in 2024, despite having less than one-eighth its population.
Health Canada reported 16,499 people received MAiD in 2024, up 6.9 per cent and accounting for 5.1 per cent of all Canadian deaths.
By comparison, Johns Hopkins, using CDC data, recorded 15,364 U.S. firearm homicides — 1,135 fewer than Canada’s MAiD total.
The Post Millennial first reported the comparison, which uses raw totals and measures different populations.
The median Canadian MAiD recipient was 77.9, while Americans aged 18–29 recorded the most firearm homicides, at 5,451.
Regardless, Campaign Life Coalition National President Jeff Gunnarson called the comparison “striking.”
“That Canada, with less than one-eighth the population of the United States, recorded more poisoning deaths by MAiD in 2024 than the U.S. recorded firearm homicides should alarm every Canadian,” Gunnarson told Juno News.
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee also highlighted the comparison.
“State-administered death is now more common in Canada than gun homicide is in the U.S. That didn’t happen by accident,” Lee wrote on X.
While U.S. firearm deaths were far higher overall — 44,447 in 2024, including 27,593 suicides — annual “assisted suicides” have nearly tripled since 2019, from 5,461 to 16,499.
Gunnarson argued the program has expanded too far and criticized what he described as inadequate safeguards.
“The body count is [nearly] 100,000 since 2016, and the annual total is still climbing,” he said. Health Canada has officially recorded 76,475 “assisted suicides” through 2024.
Juno News sought comment from Health Canada and Health Minister Marjorie Michel but did not receive a response by publication.
Canada legalized MAiD in 2016 before expanding eligibility in 2021 to people whose natural deaths were not “reasonably foreseeable,” with additional safeguards.
Of the 16,499 MAiD deaths in 2024, 732 involved people whose natural deaths were not reasonably foreseeable.
This marks another eligibility debate concerning mental illness. Under the current law, the temporary exclusion for people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness expires March 17, 2027.
Without another legislative change, they may become eligible for MAiD if they meet all other eligibility requirements and safeguards.
Gunnarson backed Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s Bill C-218, which would permanently bar mental illness as a sole condition for MAiD. The bill remains at second reading.
“We want Parliament to pass Bill C-218, halt further expansions, restore real accountability for violations, and rebuild a healthcare system that treats suffering instead of offering death as the solution,” Gunnarson said.
Campaign Life Coalition ultimately wants MAiD re-criminalized, he added.
Concerns over MAiD safeguards have also surfaced in individual cases, including allegations involving 83-year-old Ontario grandmother Brigitte Stegemann.
Her family alleges she received MAiD without valid final consent after trying to back out. The family filed a complaint seeking a review, but the allegations have not been established as wrongdoing.
Federal rules generally require final consent immediately before MAiD, though it can be waived in certain circumstances.
While debate continues over MAiD eligibility and safeguards, public support for the original framework remains high.
A June 2026 Angus Reid Institute poll found 77 per cent of Canadians supported the original 2016 MAiD criteria, while support fell to 53 per cent for the 2021 expansion.
Canadians were more divided on mental illness as the sole condition for MAiD — 43 per cent supported it, 39 per cent opposed and 19 per cent were unsure.
The poll also found 74 per cent wanted adequate housing, income and disability supports in place before MAiD is offered to someone with a disability.
What kind of despicable, morally degenerate country have we become? This is horrifying! The Elbowzos love to tout our differentiations from the States and crow about our moral and ethical superiority. Is this one of the differentiators they are talking about! Disgusting on every level!