Age-standardized death rate of cancer among Canadian males 1988-2023
Cancer mortality rates in Canada
The mortality rate due to cancer in Canada has steadily declined over the last decades and the trend is expected to continue. The rate of male deaths per 100,000 population had fallen to around 215 deaths per 100,000 population in 2020. Cancer mortality rate in females is estimated to reach around 155 deaths per 100,000 population in 2023. There is also some variance in mortality rates among genders based on the type of cancer. The mortality rate for lung cancer among men is about 48 deaths per 100,000 and 37 deaths per 100,000 in women. Men are generally found to have a higher frequency of overall cancer diagnoses than women, including most types of cancers.
The five-year survival rate for most men also tended to be lower than for women. Based on cancer sites, it has been hypothesized that differences in genders such as tobacco smoking, viral infections, hormones, and metal toxicity may be one of the major causes of discrepancies in mortality rates. In 2023, there will be an estimated 31,300 cancer cases among Canadians between 50 and 59 years of age. About 23 percent of new cancer cases were located in Europe and 13 percent of cases located in North America in 2020.