Canada is the number one country in the world for post-euthanasia organ harvesting.

Even though Canada legalized government-assisted suicide in 2016, more than a decade after countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, it has quickly surpassed them in becoming the global leader in harvesting the organs of individuals who undergo government-assisted suicide. 

In fact, half of the world’s post-euthanasia organ harvests occur in Canada. 

In Quebec, the number of organ donors has tripled in the past five years. And according to Transplant Québec, a “steep” rise in organs are coming from those who underwent government-assisted suicide.

A whopping fifteen percent of Quebec’s organ donations came from government-assisted suicide patients in the year 2022. 

The numbers are disturbing to some bioethicists, who fear that Canadians are getting the message that they are more useful dead than alive.

“The clear message being sent to suicidal, ill and disabled Canadians — with the active support of the organ transplant community — is that their deaths can have greater value to Canada than their lives,” wrote Wesley J. Smith in the National Review.

When compared with other jurisdictions, government-assisted suicide is disproportionately popular and easy to access in Canada.

Canada and the state of California both have about 40 million people, and both places legalized government-assisted suicide in 2016. But in 2021, California euthanized 486 people, whereas Canada helped 10,064 people die.

Canada is the only country in which government-assisted suicide can be approved by a nurse practitioner rather than a physician, and Ontario was the first jurisdiction in the world to proactively reach out to euthanasia patients to discuss giving up their organs, rather than waiting for the patient to bring it up.

Suiciding the sick, poor and mentally ill

As cost of living rises, housing becomes out of reach, and social services crumble, some individuals have sought out government-assisted suicide as a means to escape poverty.

Is it possible that Canada’s poor could become so demoralized that they choose to die and give away their vital organs, as the government stands by only to facilitate the process, rather than improve quality of life?

The Trudeau government only intends to make access to euthanasia easier: their plan is to expand eligibility criteria so that people with mental health struggles will be eligible for government-assisted suicide, although the bill is currently delayed.

Concurrently, just this week, New Brunswick joined Nova Scotia in making organ harvesting an opt-out process. 

All New Brunswick residents will automatically be considered organ donors upon death, unless they opt out.

Canada is approving an increasing number of suicides every year, and expanding the criteria so that more people may do so, all the while encouraging euthanasia patients to give up their organs. 

It would sound like the sinister plotline of a psychological thriller – but it’s real life.