Diabetes is a chronic health condition in which the body does not make enough insulin or does not use it as well as it should, resulting in abnormally high blood sugar levels. The three main types of diabetes are type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. It is estimated that type 2 diabetes accounts for around 90 to 95 percent of all cases. Possible complications due to diabetes, especially if it is left untreated, include a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, eye damage, and hearing impairment. Diabetes is a rising health concern in Canada and was the seventh
in the country in 2022, accounting for around 2.3 percent of all deaths that year. Furthermore, diabetes is currently the second
by share of total spending, highlighting the increasing burden of this disease.
How many people in Canada have diabetes?
In 2022, it was estimated that around 2.58 million
people in Canada had been diagnosed with diabetes, or about 7.8 percent of the population.
Diabetes is more common among men than women, however rates of the disease have risen for both over the past couple decades.
Older people are also more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes with around 21 percent of men aged 65 years and older reporting being diagnosed with diabetes compared to just five percent of men aged 35 to 49 years. As of 2022, the
provinces with the highest rates of diabetes in Canada were Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, while British Columbia and Alberta reported the lowest rates.
The impact of diabetes
Although rates of diabetes have increased over the past couple decades, death rates for diabetes decreased from the year 2002 to 2022. However, the
death rate for diabetes in Canada has remained relatively unchanged since the year 2009 and in 2022 there were approximately 19.4 deaths per 100,000 population due to the disease. Common risk factors for type 2 diabetes include having prediabetes, having a family member with diabetes, being physically inactive, and being overweight. Obesity is a growing problem in many countries around the world and Canada is no different, with around 30 percent of the
population estimated to be obese as of 2022. In addition to the human toll of diabetes, the disease also has a substantial financial impact. It was estimated that in 2021
diabetes-related health expenditure in Canada totaled around 14.3 billion U.S. dollars, with this expenditure expected to rise to 15.3 billion U.S. dollars by the year 2045.
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