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- In 2009, 71,125 deaths in Canada were attributable to cancer (malignant neoplasms), up 0.8% from 2008.
- There were 68,342 deaths attributable to major cardiovascular diseases 1 , down 1.9% from the previous year.
- The two causes of death combined were responsible for 58% of all deaths in Canada in 2009, down from 64% in 2000.
Trends for cancer and major cardiovascular diseases
- From 2000 to 2009, deaths caused by major cardiovascular diseases have declined, while deaths caused by cancer have increased.
- Since 2007 cancer has surpassed major cardiovascular diseases for number of deaths and the gap between these two causes of death has widened.
- For males, deaths caused by cancer have surpassed those caused by major cardiovascular diseases since 2005.
- For females, the gap between deaths caused by cancer and by major cardiovascular diseases has narrowed since 2000.
Age-standardized mortality rates 2 for cancerand cardiovascular diseases
- From 2000 to 2004, the age-standardized mortality rates for major cardiovascular diseases and cancer have converged. Since 2005, the age-standardized mortality rate for cancer has surpassed the rate for major cardiovascular diseases. This is mainly due to a significant decrease in the age-standardized rates for major cardiovascular diseases since 2000.
- For males, the age-standardized mortality rate for cancer has surpassed the rate for major cardiovascular diseases since 2006.
- For females, the age-standardized mortality rate for cancer has surpassed the rate for major cardiovascular diseases since 2003. In 2009, the gap between the standardized rates for these two causes of death was wider for females than males.
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