Life expectancy in Canada has stopped increasing for the first time in over 40 years – while British Columbia’s has declined for the second year in a row.
Statistics Canada data show that from 2016 to 2017, life expectancy at birth did not increase for either men or women across the country.
The change is “largely attributable” to the opioid crisis, StatCan explained.
On average, women can expect to live for 84 years and men for 79.9 years.
Between the mid-1990s and 2012, life expectancy grew by an average of 0.2 years every year. Then up to 2016, it increased by 0.1 years.
But the latest data – for 2016–17 – put the rate of increase at 0.0.
Over the same period in B.C., it declined by 0.3 years for men and 0.1 years for women.
But at 84.6 years for women and 80.1 years for men, the province’s life expectancy remains Canada’s highest.
StatCan explained: “By examining changes in deaths by age and cause, in 2017, it was possible to identify the main factor that was responsible for the recent change in life expectancy in Canada, and in particular in British Columbia: accidental drug overdoses among young adult men.”
“While developments in treatments for cancer, circulatory disease and other causes of death led to improvements in life expectancy, these gains were offset by losses in life expectancy from other causes,” StatCan added.
“In particular, the drug overdose crisis occurring in Canada was a major contributing factor in the changes seen in life expectancy from 2016 to 2017, especially for men.”
Take a look at the full data set here.
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