Canada's average life expectancy and quality of life have been dropping

A few major indicators for Canada and its citizens have been decreasing over the past couple of years: life expectancy and the country's quality of life.

Life expectancy for Canadians decreased for the third consecutive year in 2022, and the country has dipped 18 points via the Quality of Life Index.

Specifically, Canada has dropped from 9th place in the 2015 Quality of Life Index to 27th in 2023.

Wedged between Belgium (26th) and Ireland (28th), Canada's 2023 Quality of Life Index dipped to a 156.5 score compared to a 177.6 score just eight years ago.

According to StatCan, there were 334,623 deaths in Canada in 2022, an increase of 7.3 per cent from 2021.

As per the report, more people died of COVID-19 than in any other year since the pandemic began in 2020. Statistics Canada's analysis of deaths for 2022 shows the average Canadian's life expectancy dropped to 81.3 years, a full year lower than the 82.3 years recorded in 2019.

Cancer and heart disease remained the two leading causes of death in Canada, accounting for a combined 41.8 per cent of deaths in 2022. In 2021, cancer and heart disease accounted for 44.3 per cent of all deaths.

COVID-19 became the third-leading cause of death for Canadians in 2022, overtaking accidents and fatal injuries for the first time since the virus emerged in 2020.

"This increase may in part be due to the exposure to new highly transmissible COVID-19 variants and the gradual return to normalcy," the report said.

People aged 65 and older accounted for 91.4 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in 2022, according to StatCan.

As for the Quality of Life Index, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden are the world’s highest-scoring countries for 2023.