Cancer in Canada

Statistics Canada says, in a footnote to the table:

“Nova Scotia cancer incidence data are not available for diagnosis years after 2019. For tables 13-10-0111-01 and 13-10-0747-01, annual case counts and rate estimates for Nova Scotia, Canada and Canada excluding Quebec for the 2020 diagnosis year onward are not provided.”

In 2019, the last year it was counted, Nova Scotia had 6,355 new cancers.

Dooram does not add a figure for Nova Scotia to make a total for the country; the publisher gives none.

Source: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by cancer type and sex, footnote 20, read 11 October 2026.

A count of cancers newly found in a year, sent in by each province and territory and added up by Statistics Canada.

Set against the number of people, and counted as if every year and place had the same mix of ages so they can be compared (adjusted for age), 2023 is 580.3 new cancers for every 100,000 people, without Nova Scotia.

Counts are rounded. Statistics Canada says:

“the actual number of cases of a specific cancer is randomly rounded to a lower or higher multiple of 5 … Consequently, columns and rows will sum to totals only by chance.”

A separate yearly report estimates a lifetime chance:

“It is estimated that 42% of people in Canada will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.”

That estimate rests on 2021 and leaves out two provinces. The report says:

“Quebec and Nova Scotia are excluded because cases diagnosed in Quebec from 2018 onward and cases diagnosed in Nova Scotia from 2020 onward had not been submitted to the Canadian Cancer Registry at the time of analysis.”

Sources: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by cancer type and sex, reference years 2019 and 2023, footnotes 15 and 20, read 11 October 2026. Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee, with the Canadian Cancer Society, Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, Canadian Cancer Statistics 2025, pages 12 and 13 of the file, read 11 October 2026.

Women and men together, the 2023 count (without Nova Scotia): breast 29,950, prostate 29,215, lung 28,920.

The 2019 count, the whole country: lung 29,940, breast 27,970, prostate 25,170.

So breast cancer leads the newest count, and lung cancer leads the last whole-country count. The three are close; Dooram shows both counts and picks none.

Source: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by cancer type and sex, reference years 2019 and 2023, read 11 October 2026.

The three commonest cancers found in each sex in 2023. Nova Scotia is not in the count.

Statistics Canada groups colon with rectum, and Dooram keeps its groups. Its own name for lung is "lung and bronchus".

Source: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by cancer type and sex, reference year 2023, read 11 October 2026.

Cancer was the biggest cause of death in 2024 in each of the 13 provinces and territories.

The three smallest counts are the territories':

• YukonCancer deaths, 202484
• Northwest TerritoriesCancer deaths, 202475
• NunavutCancer deaths, 202456

Of one of them, Statistics Canada says:

“Due to uncertainty surrounding death counts corresponding to residents of Yukon between 2017 and 2022, the data for Yukon should be interpreted with caution.”

Source: Statistics Canada, Leading causes of death, total population (age standardization using 2021 population), reference year 2024, footnote 21, read 11 October 2026.

A count of deaths by cause, from Statistics Canada. It says of the newest year:

“Due to improvements in methodology and timeliness, the duration of data collection has been shortened compared to previous years. As a result, there may have been fewer deaths captured by the time of the release. The 2024 data are considered preliminary.”

So the 2024 figure may rise. Statistics Canada's own name for cancer in this table is "malignant neoplasms".

Source: Statistics Canada, Leading causes of death, total population, by age group, reference year 2024, footnote 24, read 11 October 2026.

This is a prediction, not a count of people still alive. Statistics Canada calls it predicted net survival and defines it as:

“the survival probability that would be observed in the hypothetical situation where the cancer of interest is the only possible cause of death”

So a death from another cause does not lower the figure. It covers people aged 15 to 99 when their cancer was found, and it describes a large group, not any one person's chance.

The table gives one area only, "Canada (excluding Quebec)". It does not say why Quebec is left out, so Dooram does not say why either. It has no figure for any single province or territory.

Prostate is for men. "Colon" is the publisher's "colon excluding rectum".

Source: Statistics Canada, Predicted age-standardized and all ages five-year net survival estimates for selected primary types of cancer, by sex, 2019 to 2021, released 13 August 2025, footnotes 3 and 13, read 11 October 2026.

The stage says how far a cancer had spread when it was found. Stage I is the earliest and stage IV the last.

The table ends in 2017.

Of Quebec, Statistics Canada says:

“Cancer staging data from Quebec have not been submitted to the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR). Annual case counts and rate estimates are therefore not available for the following geographies: Canada and Quebec.”

"Stage unknown" and "stage not available" are the publisher's own two groups. Counts are rounded to fives, so the bars add up to five fewer than the total.

Source: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by stage at diagnosis, selected cancer type and sex, reference year 2017, footnote 10, read 11 October 2026.

• YukonNew cancers, 2023195
• Northwest TerritoriesNew cancers, 2023170
• NunavutNew cancers, 202395

Each territory's count is under 200, so its rate can swing a long way from one year to the next.

Source: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by cancer type and sex, reference year 2023, read 11 October 2026.

Cancer was the biggest cause of death in 2024 in each of the 13 provinces and territories. The count for 2024 is preliminary.

Source: Statistics Canada, Leading causes of death, total population (age standardization using 2021 population), reference year 2024, read 11 October 2026.

Rates are counted as if every province had the same mix of ages (adjusted for age), so a province with more old people is not ranked higher for that alone. A province's rate is not any one person's risk.

Only the five provinces read twice are drawn here; the table has every province and territory. Dooram has read no authority saying why one province is higher than another, so it gives no reason.

Nova Scotia has sent no counts for years after 2019; the first section quotes the publisher.

Source: Statistics Canada, Number of new cases and age-standardized rates of primary cancer, by cancer type and sex, reference year 2023, read 11 October 2026.

HPV stands for human papillomavirus.

The figure is what parents told a national survey, which is why the card is marked Reported. 2021 is the newest year in the table. The table does not say how many doses count.

Statistics Canada's own labels for the two groups are "Women+" and "Men+".

Source: Statistics Canada, Vaccine coverage estimates for recommended vaccines in children and pregnant women, reference year 2021, read 11 October 2026.