Infant death rates
In 2009, 1,911 infants died in Canada, for a death rate of 4.9/1,000. The trend in infant death rates was relatively stable at 5.3/1,000 in 1999 compared with 4.9/1,000 in 20091. In 2009, the highest infant death rates were reported in the Northwest Territories (15.5/1,000), Nunavut (14.8/1,000) and the Yukon (7.8/1,000). The lowest infant death rates were reported in Prince Edward Island (3.4/1,000), Nova Scotia (3.4/1,000) and British Columbia (3.6/100,000). In 2009, the overall infant death rate in Canada was 4.9/1,000.
1Statistics Canada (2008), Canadian Vital Statistics, Birth and Death Databases and population estimates.
Implications
Implications: Although the Public Health Agency of Canada considers Canada’s overall infant mortality rate to be in line with other OECD countries1, some populations and certain communities experience much higher rates of infant death.
1Public Health Agency of Canada (2008). The Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on The State of Public Health in Canada 2008. Accessed on May 29, 2012, at www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cphorsphc-respcacsp/2008/fr-rc/cphorsphc-respcacsp06c-eng.php.