Life expectancy and deaths statistics

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What is excess mortality in Canada?

Excess mortality is observed when there are more deaths during a period of time than what would be expected for that period. There is evidence of excess mortality when weekly deaths are consistently higher than the expected number, but especially when they exceed the range of what would be expected over consecutive weeks.

What are provisional deaths in Canada?

Provisional deaths are not based on all deaths that are observed during a specific reference period because of reporting delays. Provisional death counts are based on what is reported to Statistics Canada by provincial and territorial vital statistics registries.

Provisional death estimates have been adjusted to account for incomplete data. As a result, the provisional death counts and estimates released may not match figures from other sources, such as media reports, or counts and estimates from provincial and territorial health authorities and other agencies.

Visualizing mortality in Canada

Explore the cause of death trends in Canada since 2000 with these interactive dashboards. Metrics visualized on the dashboards are: number of deaths, death rate per 100,000 people, and the proportion of deaths represented by each selected cause of death.

Rates and counts by age group for select causes of death

Visualizing mortality in Canada: Rates and counts by age group for select causes of death

Cause of death trends in Canada broken down by several age groups between 0 to 90 years of age and by sex.

Rates and counts by sex and province or territory for select causes of death

Visualizing mortality in Canada: Rates and counts by sex and province or territory for select causes of death

Cause of death trends in Canada broken down by province or territories and by sex.

Focus on COVID-19

Learn more about provisional deaths and excess mortality:

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Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Death certification and classification

Death certification and classification

COVID-19 comorbidities in Canada

COVID-19 comorbidities in Canada

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The Daily articles

COVID-19 insights

COVID-19 insights

In the news

Explore the mortality dashboard

The new Provisional deaths and excess mortality in Canada dashboard presents data that are relevant for monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 on mortality in Canada. Excess mortality occurs when there are more deaths during a period of time than would be expected for that period. The number of excess deaths is measured as the difference between the number of observed deaths and the number of expected deaths over a certain period of time. The Canadian Vital Statistics Death (CVS-D) database is the authoritative source for cause of death data in Canada. The CVS-D is an administrative survey that collects demographic and medical information from all provincial and territorial vital statistics registries on all deaths in Canada. With the dashboard, data users can explore trends in excess mortality. It allow users to examine excess deaths by comparing the adjusted estimates of weekly deaths to the expected number of weekly death counts.

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