/ Aging

Inequitable declines in life expectancy in Ontario: 2016- 2021

• Christine Sheppard, Maura Eswaradas, Sophie Baker and James Iveniuk
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Overview

Life expectancy is a widely used sign of the health of a population. Importantly, it can also be used to identify health disparities between groups. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy in Ontario declined for the first time in more than 40 years. Although it began trending upwards again in 2023, it has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. It is important to identify the groups most impacted by declining life expectancy in Ontario – and to understand the causes of death – in order to develop strategies to address the declines. 

This study analyzes long-form census data from Statistics Canada, and links it with data on causes of death, to identify which populations were most impacted by the decline in life expectancy in Ontario between 2016 and 2021 and which causes of death were linked to these changes.  

Key findings 

The decline in life expectancy was generally uniform across the population, but certain groups were more impacted than others. Statistically significant declines were found among non-racialized populations, residents of settlements under 100,000 people, and non-immigrant populations. 

Deaths due to mental health and cognition increased, particularly among non-racialized groups, as did deaths due to “other” causes. “Other” includes COVID-19, skin disease, idiopathic, infectious diseases, perinatal- or pregnancy related causes. Deaths due to “other” causes increased the most among Latin American, Filipino, and non-racialized populations, immigrants who arrived more than years ago, and non-immigrants. 

Policy implications 

Collectively, these findings point to new directions for addressing disparities in life expectancy in Ontario. These include the need for: 

  • Better data collection to help understand gaps in health needs and outcomes among equity-deserving populations. 
  • Policymakers and healthcare providers at all levels to consider how they address equity in care. Health equity impact assessments should be mandatory and public. 
  • Ensuring equitable access to healthcare services in smaller settlements and rural areas. 

We are grateful for funding from the Ministry of Health of the Province of Ontario, which enabled this study.    

Inequitable declines in life expectancyDownload the research report
Research summaryDownload the research summary
Supplemental materialDownload the supplemental material
Research summary (French)Download the research summary (in French)
Christine Sheppard

Christine Sheppard

Dr. Christine L. Sheppard holds a Master’s in Social Work, specializing in gerontology, from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Health Studies and Gerontology, with a focus on aging, health and well-being, also from the University of Toronto. Prior to starting at Wellesley Institute, she was a CIHR-funded post-doctoral fellow at Sunnybrook Research Institute, specializing in knowledge translation in urban housing and health.

Maura Eswaradas

Maura Eswaradas

Maura Eswaradas is a researcher and epidemiologist with interests in chronic disease epidemiology, health equity and the social determinants of health. She is passionate about using evidence to understand health discrepancies across different populations and to support program and policy change. Her work at Wellesley Institute focuses on diabetes outcomes and its social determinants of health across racialized populations. Maura holds a Master of Public Health with a specialization in epidemiology from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining Wellesley, she worked for governmental organizations where she performed quantitative analyses using various kinds of data, supported the production of indicators to guide evidence-informed decision-making, and produced various kinds of knowledge translation products.

Sophie Baker

Sophie Baker

Dr. Sophie Baker was a researcher at Wellesley Institute working on the Thrive Toronto project. Her research interests lie in individual, community and policy-level interventions aimed at addressing mental health inequities. She has also conducted research into the social and environmental risk factors associated with psychosis, particularly concentrating on understanding the heightened risk observed in racialized groups. Sophie recently completed her PhD in Psychology at Bangor University in the United Kingdom.

James Iveniuk

James Iveniuk

Dr. James Iveniuk, PhD, studies social networks, cognition and health over the life course. He is a former full-time researcher at Wellesley Institute.