Alcohol-induced deaths during COVID-19 increased by 18 percent from 2019 to 2020—the largest year-over-year change in deaths caused by alcohol in 20 years—while deaths from all causes were also higher than expected, according to new figures released by Statistics Canada (StatCan).
The data, released on Jan. 12, indicate that excess deaths in Canada overall increased significantly through the pandemic, with an estimated 53,741 excess deaths from the end of March 2020 to the end of August 2022—7.6 percent more deaths than expected had there been no pandemic.
