There were 307,205 deaths in Canada in 2020, the year in which the COVID-19 pandemic began, an increase of 21,935 (+7.7%) over the 285,270 deaths observed in 2019. Life expectancy fell by more than half a year in 2020, the largest single-year decline in Canada since national vital statistics started to be collected in 1921
That’s the lead in Monday’s release Deaths, 2020 from Statistics Canada.
The pandemic has had a significant impact on mortality in Canada, contributing to, but was not the only reason for, the decline in life expectancy.
For the 50-75 cohort the gain in life expectancy since 2016 almost compensated for the loss in 2020.