Higher than expected mortality among younger males in the summer months
While, overall, mortality levels since March have largely been driven by the number of deaths due to COVID-19, a different pattern among people under the age of 45 emerged in May and continued into October.
From mid-May to mid-October, an estimated 7,172 deaths were reported among Canadians aged 0 to 44, an excess of 1,385 deaths. Males accounted for 81% of these excess deaths.
This pattern was seen particularly in Alberta and British Columbia, which were the only provinces with evidence of excess mortality among this age group. Alberta accounted for 298 excess deaths for males under the age of 45, while British Columbia accounted for 260.
Excess deaths among this age group cannot be attributed directly to COVID-19 alone. From March until the end of October, there were fewer than 50 deaths attributed to COVID-19 among Canadians under the age of 45. However, beyond COVID-19 itself, increases in mortality could also be due to indirect consequences related to measures put in place to address the pandemic, such as missed or delayed medical interventions and other possible changes in behaviour such as increased substance use. For example, in British Columbia, the Chief Coroner's Office has reported increases in deaths due to overdoses since the start of the pandemic.