Life expectancy of Ontario males has dropped, a Statistics Canada report stated Tuesday.
The reported reduction in life expectancy from 2017 to 2018 is slight, less than one month.
But it's significant because projected lifespans have lengthened almost every year since Canada began compiling information on deaths in 1921, and the report points to opioids as the reversal's probable cause.
"For the first time in decades, a slight decrease (-0.1 year) in life expectancy at birth among males living in Ontario was... observed from 2017 to 2018," the national statistics agency said. "This decrease was also related to higher mortality among adults around the ages of 25 to 50 compared with previous years."
A child born in Ontario today can now anticipate a lifespan of 80.3 years.
"It is likely that this slight decrease in life expectancy is related to the opioid crisis," the report said.
Nationally, male life expectancy at birth didn't rise for a third year in a row, the longest stagnation on record.
That, according to Statistics Canada, "is likely related to the opioid crisis that is particularly affecting British Columbia and Ontario. From 2017 to 2018, life expectancy for males has remained unchanged at 79.9 years, while female life expectancy increased from 84.0 to 84.1 years," Statistics Canada said.
"The increase in mortality among males aged 25 to 45 is likely related to the opioid crisis affecting certain regions of the country. In the United States, life expectancy at birth has decreased over the last three years, and many studies show that this decrease is linked to the opioid crisis."
Another metric, life expectancy at age 65, increased among Canadian males from 19.3 years in 2017 to 19.4 years in 2018. It remained stable among females at 22.1 years.
In opioid-ravaged British Columbia, life expectancy at birth among males dropped by 0.2 years, following two previous years of decline.
"In 2015, life expectancy was 80.5 years among males of this province and was the highest in the country. In 2018, it had decreased to 79.9 years, and was the third highest after that of males in Quebec (80.9 years) and males in Ontario (80.3 years)."
"An analysis of the probabilities of dying by age shows that mortality among males living in British Columbia continued to increase recently between the ages of about 25 to 50 years, a trend observed since 2016. It is likely that this increase is related to the opioid crisis, as deaths resulting from opioid intoxication tend to be more common in males of this age group, with British Columbia being more affected than other provinces and territories," the report said.
Statistics Canada reports that life expectancy at birth has rose from 2017 to 2018 among males living in Quebec, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
"It also increased among females over the same period in Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador."
