Fact File: RFK Jr.'s MAID comment misleads

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators last week that medical assistance in dying is the leading cause of death in Canada. Canada's national statistics agency does not record MAID as a cause of death under World Health Organization guidelines, but the number of MAID deaths reported by Health Canada does not place it as the leading cause of death in Canada. 

THE CLAIM

During an April 22 hearing in front of the United States Senate finance committee, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. referred to Canada in remarks about assisted suicide laws. 

In Canada, medical assistance in dying is legal if specific criteria spelled out in federal law are met. A physician or nurse practitioner can directly administer a lethal substance, or they can provide a drug that a person takes to bring about their own death.

"I think those laws are abhorrent and we see in Canada today, I think it's the number 1 cause of death is assisted suicide," Kennedy said.

THE FACTS
 

Statistics Canada tracks the leading causes of death among the total population. 

According to the latest available statistics from 2024, the leading cause of death for Canadians of all ages and both sexes was malignant neoplasms, referring to cancerous tumours. 

Cancer is followed by heart disease, accidental deaths, stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases and chronic lower respiratory diseases to round out the top five causes of death. 

MAID does not appear on the list because it is not listed as a cause of death. 

Statistics Canada codes and classifies causes of death in line with a system created by the World Health Organization, which records deaths according to their underlying cause.

"The tabulation of the causes of death is based on the underlying cause of death, which is defined by the WHO as the disease or injury that initiated the train of events leading directly to death; or, as the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury," Statistics Canada said in an emailed statement. "The underlying cause of death is selected from the causes and conditions listed on the medical certificate of cause of death, which is completed by a medical professional, medical examiner or coroner."

When patients die through MAID, the cause of death is coded to match the health condition that led them to seek MAID, Statistics Canada notes. Cancer was the most frequently reported underlying medical condition among Canadians who received MAID, accounting for 63.6 per cent of cases among patients whose death was reasonably foreseeable.

Health Canada tracks MAID deaths and publishes annual reports on the practice. In 2024, MAID accounted for 5.1 per cent of all deaths in Canada. Of the 22,535 people who requested MAID in 2024, 16,499 people ultimately received it. 

Comparing that with Statistics Canada's 2024 data, the number of deaths through MAID would fall far below the leading causes of death. There were 85,589 deaths from malignant tumours, 57,982 from heart diseases and 20,415 from accidents.

However, Health Canada cautions against drawing any comparisons. It describes MAID as a health service available in very limited circumstances as part of end-of-life care. To be eligible, patients must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition that causes unbearable physical or mental suffering.

"The number of MAID provisions should not be compared to cause of death statistics in Canada in order to determine the prevalence (the proportion of all decedents) nor to rank MAID as a cause of death," it said.

Kennedy was the subject of a Canadian Press Fact Check last year after he made several misleading claims about measles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2026.

By Marissa Birnie | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.