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May 12, 2022DEATH COUNTS AND EXCESS MORTALITY, MARCH 2022 The first death attributed to COVID-19 in Canada was reported in British Columbia occurring on March 8, 2020. As of May 12, 2022 the Public Health Agency of Canada's daily epidemiology update reported that COVID-19 has caused the death of 39,984 people in Canada.
Statistics Canada has provided provisional information on deaths in Canada up to March 5, 2022. This includes deaths attributable to all causes; fluctuations from one week to the next may be attributable to many different causes of death. The data does not include all deaths that occurred during the reference period. Not all provinces have reported their results up to March 5; only Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and British Columbia have reported to this date. Information is not complete for recent weeks in:
- Prince Edward Island (to December 11)
- Nova Scotia (to October 23)
- New Brunswick (to November 27)
- Quebec (to January 22)
- Ontario (to December 18)
- Manitoba (to March 27, 2021)
- Saskatchewan (to February 12)
With limited information from several provinces, national estimates are available up to January 1, 2022.
A comparison of deaths in 2020 and 2021 with the number of deaths reported in similar weeks in previous years allows highlights whether mortality is higher than usually observed at that time of year. The number of deaths reported in each week is represented below as a ratio of deaths per 1 million residents (population as of July 1 of the year). Based on observed historical trends, Statistics Canada has also estimated the expected number of deaths for each week and compared this with observed deaths (adjusted where possible reflecting provisional data). Estimates of expected deaths are presented with a 95 per cent confidence interval.
Most provinces reported deaths that were consistent with expected levels in recent data, though there were isolated weeks during which deaths rose above the upper bound of expected levels. Statistics Canada notes that Canada experienced a period of significant excess deaths from August 2021 to November 2021, the third major period of sustained excess mortality during the pandemic.
There is some evidence of excess mortality from January to March of 2022, coinciding with the omicron wave of the pandemic. Only three provinces have reported data for this period; there appears to be persistent excess mortality in Alberta and British Columbia as well as periodic episodes of excess mortality in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0768-01 Weekly death counts, by age group and sex; Table 13-10-0784-01 Adjusted number of deaths, expected number of deaths and estimates of excess mortality, by week; Public Health Agency of Canada. COVID-19 daily epidemiology update
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