Cancer was Canada’s leading cause of death in 2008: report

A new Statistics Canada report shows that cancer was the leading cause of death in every province and territory in 2008. Heart disease was the second leading cause of death everywhere except Nunavut, where suicide ranked second. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

For the first time ever, cancer was the leading cause of death in every province and territory in 2008, says a new Statistics Canada report.

That’s up from 2007, when cancer was the leading cause of death everywhere except in Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories.

Cancer and heart disease were responsible for just over one-half [51 per cent] of the 238,617 Canadian deaths in 2008.

Heart disease was the second leading cause of death in every province and territory that year, except in Nunavut, where suicide ranked second, the report found.

In 2008, 38 Nunavummiut died of cancer, while 22 took their own lives.

Across the country, the other leading causes of death were chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents (unintentional injuries), diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, influenza and pneumonia.

But the report showed differences in the leading causes of death by age group.

For example, congenital abnormalities was the leading cause of death for infants under one year of age.

Accidents killed the greatest number of Canadians aged one to 34 years, cancer for those aged 35 to 84 and heart disease for those aged 85 and over.

The top three causes of death for young adults aged 15 to 34 were accidents, suicide and homicide.

In 2008, 3,705 Canadians committed suicide, up almost three per cent from 2007.

Of these, 2,777 were men, three times the total for women [928].

But the number of Canadians who died by suicide in 2008 represents only 1.6 per cent of all deaths in the country – that’s compared to the 15 per cent of Nunavut deaths caused by suicide that same year.

Across Canada, suicide was the second leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44 and for women aged 15 to 24, the report found.