ManitobaAs provinces across Canada see slowing growth in the number of people accessing medical assistance in dying, Manitoba’s “fairly flat” MAID numbers in recent years could point to where the rest of the country is headed, one expert says. Number of people seeking medically asssisted deaths across Canada still climbing, but growth rate slowsLauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Nov 17, 2025 6:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 6 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Last year, 188 people in Manitoba chose to have a medically assisted death. That’s down from a high point of 245 MAID deaths in 2021, data provided by Shared Health to CBC News shows. (Ground Picture/Shutterstock)As provinces across Canada see slowing growth in the number of people accessing medical assistance in dying, Manitoba’s “fairly flat” MAID numbers in recent years could point to where the rest of the country is headed, one expert says.The number of Canadians receiving a medically assisted death has continued to climb each year since it was legalized in 2016, with more than 15,000 getting MAID in 2023, according to the federal government’s most recent annual report. However, the rate of growth slowed to about 16 per cent that year, after an average annual growth of about 31 per cent between 2019 and 2022. Unlike other provinces, including Quebec, Ontario and B.C. — which together account for 85 per cent of Canada’s MAID deaths — Manitoba has seen a decline in the number of people receiving assisted deaths since a high point of 245 in 2021, data provided by Shared Health to CBC News shows. Last year, 188 people in Manitoba chose to have MAID. As of September, 154 Manitobans had a medically assisted death in 2025. “Manitoba is somewhat of an outlier here, and I think it shows where Canada is heading overall — that the trend is towards a fairly stable number of people,” said bioethicist Eric Mathison, who serves as assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto.”Manitoba is interesting because it has been fairly flat. Since 2022, really, the numbers haven’t changed very much,” he said.”It’s a little bit ahead of the slowdown that we’re seeing in other places.”On average, MAID deaths make up about 2.3 per cent of deaths in the province, a CBC analysis of 2016 to 2025 data from Shared Health and Chief Medical Examiner’s Office shows. In 2023, 4.7 per cent of Canadians died by MAID, according to federal numbers. Eric Mathison, who teaches at the University of Toronto, says Manitoba’s relatively small number of MAID deaths makes it difficult to conclude why the province’s numbers, unlike those elsewhere in Canada, aren’t growing. (Zoom)Manitoba’s relatively small number of MAID deaths makes it difficult to conclude why the province’s numbers, unlike those elsewhere in Canada, aren’t growing, said Mathison.”It’s tempting to look at the numbers and draw conclusions from that, but a deeper analysis can reveal that there’s more interesting stuff going on,” he said. Salina Pirzada, a PhD candidate at the University of Manitoba who is leading Canada’s first study into patients’ reasons for receiving MAID, said it’s not all that surprising that growth is slowing after nearly a decade of legal assisted dying. “Nothing grows exponentially forever,” she said. “Annual growth naturally sort of slows down.” Pirzada said uptake to new programs or technology typically starts out slow, followed by rapid growth and then an eventual levelling off and flattening of the curve. Manitoba’s highest number of MAID deaths came the same year the program was expanded to include Track 2 patients — Canadians whose natural deaths are not reasonably foreseeable but who live with grievous and irremediable medical conditions. But Pirzada said the relatively high number of MAID deaths in 2021 may have been the result of rising public awareness and discussion around it at that point in time. Manitoba saw one Track 2 death that year.’She was able to keep her dignity’Jean Ayre, who was one of the first 100 people to receive a medically assisted death in the province, was passionate about increasing awareness of MAID before she died on Dec. 23, 2017. Her husband, Don Ayre, says Jean was a warm and positive person who “absolutely loved life” and “brought goodness into other people’s lives,” but she had been dealing with heart failure and severe pain. Don Ayre says his late wife, Jean, received a medically assisted death on Dec. 23, 2017, after suffering with heart failure and severe pain. (Justin Fraser/CBC)Seeking MAID was a difficult decision, but one that was “very consistent with her personality,” he said. “Jean was a very, very open person, and I think that’s why she was so comfortable with the Dying with Dignity program, because she was able to keep her dignity and that was very important,” said Don.MAID gave Jean the opportunity to plan her death, leaving enough time for family members to arrive from the United States to say goodbye, he said. She also wrote her own obituary and planned her celebration of life service. Having a medically assisted death is a deeply personal decision, but it’s a choice that should be available for those who qualify and would like access, said Don.But lack of access in large swaths of rural Manitoba may be a key factor in why the province’s overall number of MAID deaths are so low compared to other provinces, says Paul Magennis, a registered nurse and MAID educator who co-founded the MAiD in Canada blog. Shared Health says there are currently 18 practitioners who provide MAID in the province, down from the 20 reported in the federal government’s 2023 report. The report for 2024 is expected to be published in December. Of those 18 practitioners, only three work in rural Manitoba communities, Shared Health said.Paul Magennis is a registered nurse in British Columbia and a MAID educator. (Zoom)”Manitoba does have a higher rural population than the Canadian average, and we know that just as with all other health care, there are barriers for folks that live in rural areas,” Magennis said. “Access can be difficult, particularly in a smaller area. If you had one fewer MAID assessor and provider, that could make a massive difference in the access to that community,” he said. In a statement to CBC News, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said “every Manitoban deserves access to compassionate, high-quality end-of-life care.” Their NDP government is “investing in palliative care and supports, so in addition to MAID, patients and families have meaningful options when making end-of-life decisions,” the statement said.ABOUT THE AUTHORLauren Scott is a Winnipeg-based reporter with CBC Manitoba. They hold a master’s degree in computational and data journalism, and have previously worked for the Hamilton Spectator and The Canadian Press.
With dip in number of MAID deaths, Manitoba an ‘outlier’ among provinces
