Documents just released by Canada’s Minister of Transportation reveal that in-flight medical emergencies jumped 17% in 2023 compared to the average from 2018-2019.
Liberal Minister Pablo Rodriquez provided the data in a response to a Conservative MP’s parliamentary request for numbers between the years 2018—2023.
In Canadian airspace, the total number of medical emergencies in 2018-2019 was 587 and 477 respectively, compared to 626 in 2023, representing a 17% jump.
After the COVID vaccines were coerced into about 85% of Canadians, including one that’s since been taken off shelves amid shocking adverse effect admissions, many have wondered if there was a connection between in-flight medical emergencies and the experimental shots that lacked long-term safety data.
Limited data
In their response, Transport Canada said they do not collect data on the number of flights and kilometers flown in Canadian airspace, making the annual medical emergency in-flight numbers without much context.
However, it’s well known there were significantly fewer flights in 2020 and 2021 during the government’s COVID restrictions.
The year 2022 presumably had fewer flights than 2018 and 2019, as many Canadians were still reluctant to travel out of fear that they might catch COVID, and for the first half of the year, about 15% of Canadians were still barred from flying due to their vaccination status.
2023 is when the number of flights presumably returned to 2018 – 2019 levels, which is where the 17% spike exists.
Transport Canada further said they do not collect data on the number of pilots, flight attendants and air traffic controllers who have claimed disability or died, nor do they collect data on how many pilots applied for medical leave.
Unfit pilots remained stable
Data also reveals that the number of unfit pilots was actually lower in 2022 and 2023 than it was in 2018 and 2019.
This data contradicts reports from The Global Aviation Advocacy Coalition (GAAC) of a “crisis in pilot health,” which they partly attributed to the COVID vaccine mandate.
Canada’s vaccine mandate
On August 13, 2021, then-Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced that the federal government was requiring all public servants to be vaccinated, and anyone wishing to fly on an interprovincial flight must be as well.
The mandate was lifted near the end of June 2022.
