Canada's Life Expectancy Is Now Lower Thanks To The Pandemic

Some provinces got hit harder than others.

Canada's Life Expectancy Is Now Lower Thanks To The Pandemic
Natalia Pushchina | Dreamstime
Contributor

Statistics Canada released a report on June 1 that showed how Canada's life expectancy has been impacted by COVID-19. In 2020, more than 15,600 people died due to the pandemic, the agency says.

As a result, there has been an estimated life expectancy reduction of 0.41 years for Canadians, equating to about five months. In 2019, the life expectancy for the country was 82.1 years, according to Statistics Canada.

While life expectancy is normally expected to increase over time, events that cause a significant number of deaths can bump that number down. Another example of this happened in 2017 when the opioid crisis reduced life expectancy at birth by 0.07 years, or about 0.8 months.

According to the study, different parts of Canada have been affected more than others. For example, Quebec's life expectancy was found to have decreased the most following the pandemic, with a dip of nearly 10 months for both males and females.

Meanwhile, Alberta only saw a decrease of 0.32 years, or about four months.

From Your Site Articles
CanadaNews
  • Britanny Burr
    Britanny Burr was a Staff Writer at Narcity Canada, who drove growth within Narcity's Western coverage and readership. Having lived between her hometown, Canmore, Alberta and Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, and NYC over the past 10 years, she is obsessed with finding the best local hot spots. She holds a B.A. in English and has over six years of professional writing experience as Head Writer and Editor for YUL.Buzz in Montreal, and Creative Copywriter at JAKT in NYC. News by day, poetry by night — the written word is Britanny's nearest and dearest.

Immigration will soon make up 100% of Canada's population growth

Experts say the switch would be "unprecedented."

Canada's population dropped in 2025 for the first time in recorded history — Here's why

Statistics Canada says the drop is primarily due to a massive immigration slowdown.

Poverty rate holds steady at 11%: StatCan

Poverty rate holds steady at 11%, well above 2020 levels: StatCan

1 in 4 Canadians have declined vaccines: poll

Poll suggests politics, geography and trust play roles in vaccine hesitancy

I compared my grocery shop at Metro and No Frills — there is no competition

It's a supermarket smackdown.

This Ontario waterpark with 35 slides is the largest and Canada and it's reopening soon

Get ready to make a splash!

A government of Canada class action settled for $8.7 million and here's who could get money

This is related to a privacy breach of Canada Revenue Agency, Service Canada and other government accounts.

These are Canada's highest-paying job fields right now and #1 isn't medicine, law or finance

Turns out the biggest salaries don't always require a fancy education. 👀

8 surprising things Canada actually does way better than Europe

Other than maple syrup, obviously.

Milk sold at Costco stores in Canada is being recalled

You can get a refund for the affected product.

Lotto Max winning numbers for Tuesday, June 9 are out and there's a $10 million jackpot

You might be one of the Maxplus winners!

This small oceanside city with ancient trees was dubbed Canada's #1 most livable

Here's what Canada's most livable city is like. 👇

You can get these 42 Costco products at cheaper prices with the new flyer deals for June

Groceries and household items are on sale for up to $40 off!

I compared chicken tenders from A&W, KFC and Mary Browns — one is miles ahead

And one is miles behind...