There were 10,064 assisted deaths in Canada in 2021, recent statistics show, as assisted dying legislation is set to expand further to kill patients with mental conditions, including dementia.

SPUC has warned that Canada is already on the “slippery slope”, and “it is vital that the UK does not fall into the same deadly trap”.

In 2016, when assisted dying was introduced in Canada, there were 1,018 such deaths in the country. Since then, the rate of assisted death has steadily risen year by year, with over 10,000 assisted deaths occurring in 2021 alone, representing 3.3% of all deaths in Canada last year.

Since its legalisation in 2016, assisted suicide (also known as MAiD) in Canada has killed 31,664 people as of 31 December 2021, although almost a third of those deaths occurred in 2021.

In June, SPUC reported on the story of a disabled Canadian woman conditionally granted assisted suicide after being unable to fund appropriate accommodation due to “abject poverty”. She put her case on hold after receiving $65,000 from ordinary Canadian well-wishers.

SPUC comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “10,064 assisted deaths in Canada in just one year is shocking and stands as a warning to other nations – a stark notice of where the slippery slope leads, and it is vital that the UK does not fall into the same deadly trap.

“As these numbers show, assisted suicide, once it is imposed on a people, fast becomes a default response to the challenges of care and even poverty and mental illness, as SPUC has also reported.

“At a time when calls for assisted suicide in the UK are growing louder, we must surely look at what is going in Canada right now and ask ourselves whether death can ever replace palliative care and true compassion – it cannot, and assisted suicide must be opposed, especially for the sake of the vulnerable.”

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