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The methodology used in this publication to select the leading causes of death was developed by the National Center for Health Statistics of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services.1
- Cancer and heart disease, the two leading causes of death for Canadians, were responsible for just over one-half (51%) of the 238,617 deaths in Canada in 2008.
- Cancer accounted for 30% of deaths, and heart disease, 21%. Stroke, in third place, accounted for 6% of all deaths.
- Ranked in order, the other seven leading causes of death were chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents (unintentional injuries), diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease and suicide.
- These 10 leading causes of death accounted for 77% of all deaths in 2008, a lower proportion than in 2000 (80%). The list has been identical since 2000, but the ranking has changed slightly. In 2000, suicide and kidney disease placed 9th and 10th, respectively. By 2008, they had switched places.
- From 2007 to 2008, the number of deaths due to cancer went up 1.4% to 70,558 deaths, continuing an upward trend since 2000. The number of deaths due to heart disease declined from 2000 to 2006, and increased slightly from 2007 to 2008, reaching 50,722. Deaths due to stroke went down slightly from 2007 to 2008 to 13,870 deaths
Table 1
Ranking and number of deaths for the 10 leading causes, Canada 2000 and 2008
Age and sex differences
- In 2008, the relative burden of the 10 leading causes of death was higher for males than for females, accounting for 78% of all male deaths and 75% of all female deaths.
- In 2008, men and women shared 9 out of 10 leading causes of death. However, only four leading causes of death had the same ranking: cancer (1st), heart disease (2nd), chronic lower respiratory disease (4th), and influenza and pneumonia (8th).
- Cancer was the leading cause of death for Canadians aged 35 to 84 years. The highest proportion of deaths due to cancer was observed for those aged 55 to 64, with cancer accounting for one out of every two deaths in that age group. Cancer was the leading cause of death for males aged 45 to 84 and for females aged 25 to 84. For males, the highest proportion of deaths caused by cancer was for those aged 65 to 74, at 43%, and for females it was those aged 55 to 64, at 56%.
- Heart disease was the leading cause of death for those aged 85 and older, accounting for 27% of all deaths in this age group. It ranked first for both men and women.
- Accidents (unintentional injuries) was the leading cause of death for Canadians aged 1 to 34 years. It ranked first for men aged 44 years and younger and for women aged 24 years and younger. The proportion of deaths was highest for those aged 15 to 24 years, at 44% for men and 38% for women.
- Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities was the leading cause of death for children less than one year of age, followed by deaths due to disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight.
- In 2008, suicide, which ranked 10th among the 10 leading causes of death for Canadians, caused three times more deaths among men (2,777 deaths) than women (928 deaths). Suicide, however, was the second-leading cause of death for young men aged 15 to 44 years, and the highest relative burden was for those aged 15 to 34 years (22%). For women, suicide was the second-leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24 years (19%) and third-leading cause for those aged 25 to 44 years.
- In 2008, Alzheimer's disease ranked seventh in the leading causes of death for Canadians; however, two times more women (4,606) died of Alzheimer's disease than men (1,967).
Table 3
Ranking and number of deaths for the 10 leading causes by age group, Canada, 2008
Regional differences
- For the first time in 2008, cancer was the leading cause of death in every province and territory.
- Heart disease was the second-leading cause of death in all provinces and territories except Nunavut, where suicide ranked second.
- Stroke ranked third in all provinces except Quebec and the territories. In Quebec, chronic lower respiratory diseases ranked third followed by stroke. In Yukon and the Northwest Territories, accidents (unintentional injuries) ranked third and in Nunavut, chronic lower respiratory diseases ranked third.
- Diabetes was the fourth-leading cause of death in Newfoundland and Labrador.
- Alzheimer's disease was the fifth-leading cause of death in Quebec.
- Accidents (unintentional injuries) was among the five leading causes of death in all provinces and territories, except for Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec.
Age-standardized mortality rates
- To control for the impact of population aging on death rates, comparisons over time are made using the "age-standardized mortality rate." This removes the impact of differences in the age structure of populations among areas and over time.
- From 2000 to 2008, age-standardized mortality rates generally had a downward trend for all 10 leading causes of death. From 2007 to 2008, however, age-standardized mortality rates for Alzheimer's disease and suicide increased.
- Age-standardized mortality rates for Alzheimer's disease went up 8% from 2007 to 2008.
- The age-standardized mortality rate for suicide went up 2% from 2007 to 2008.
Footnotes
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