The above visualization displays the cancer incidence and mortality data availability by geographic region from 2009 to 2023.
- Incidence: The number of new cancer cases diagnosed in a given population during a specific period of time, often a year.
- Age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR): The number of new cases of cancer per 100,000 people, standardized to the age structure of the 2011 Canadian standard population. In this dashboard, ASIR is also referred to as "incidence rate."
- Projected incidence: Actual cancer incidence data were available to 2019 for all provinces and territories except Quebec, for which data were available to 2010. Data from 1993 onward were used to project cancer incidence to 2023. Similarly, data for Nova Scotia were available to 2018.
- Data from 1992 to 2019 were obtained from the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) Tabulation Master File, released August 23, 2022 (see Methods).
- Data for years that precede the CCR (before 1992) were retrieved from its predecessor, the National Cancer Incidence Reporting System (NCIRS). The NCIRS is a fixed, tumour-oriented database containing cases diagnosed between 1969 and 1991.
- Incidence data originate with the provincial and territorial cancer registries (PTCR), which provide data annually to Statistics Canada for inclusion in the CCR.
- The CCR is a person-oriented database that includes clinical and demographic information about residents of Canada diagnosed with new primary cases of cancer.
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- Deaths: The number of cancer deaths in a given population during a specific period of time, often a year.
- Age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR): The number of cancer deaths per 100,000 people, standardized to the age structure of the 2011 Canadian standard population. In this dashboard, ASMR is also referred to as "mortality rate" or "death rate."
- Projected mortality: Actual death data were available to 2020 for all provinces and territories except Yukon, for which data were imputed for 2017 through 2020. Data were used to project cancer mortality to 2023.
- The actual mortality data used in this dashboard cover the period of 1984 to 2020 and were obtained from the Canadian Vital Statistics — Death Database (CVSD)5.
- Death records originate with the provincial and territorial registrars of vital statistics and are provided regularly to Statistics Canada for inclusion in the CVSD.
- The CVSD includes information on demographics and cause of death for all deaths in Canada. Prior to the 2010 reference year, some data were also collected on Canadian residents who died in American states within the US.
Click Here for more information (APPENDIX II)
- Net survival: The percentage of people diagnosed with a cancer who survive a given period of time past their diagnosis, assuming that the cancer of interest is the only possible cause of death. Net survival is the preferred method for comparing cancer survival in population-based cancer studies because it adjusts for the fact that different populations may have different levels of background risk of death.
- Predicted survival: Predicted (period) survival provides a more up-to-date estimate of survival by exclusively using the survival experienced by cancer cases during a recent period (e.g., 2015–2017).
- Survival analyses were conducted using the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) death-linked analytic file created by Statistics Canada in their Social Data Linkage Environment.10 Specifically, the CCR tabulation file released August 23, 2022, was linked to mortality information complete through December 31, 2017.
- In addition to pre-existing mortality information on the CCR itself, mortality information were also obtained from the CVSD11 and from the T1 Personal Master Files (as reported on tax returns). The use of death information appearing on tax returns permitted the identification of additional deaths events that may not have been included in the CVSD (e.g., deaths occurring outside Canada).
- Survival time was measured in days from the date of diagnosis to the date of death, where applicable; otherwise to the end of 2017.
- Cancer Prevalence: Population-based cancer prevalence can be measured by the number of living individuals previously diagnosed with cancer (person-based) or by the number of cancers diagnosed in such individuals (tumour-based). The prevalence analyses presented in this report use data up to January 1, 2018.
- Person-based prevalence: Person-based estimates refer to the number of individuals living with or beyond cancer on a specified date (index date).
- Tumour-based prevalence: Tumour-based estimates refer to the number of cancers diagnosed among individuals living with or beyond cancer on a specified date (index date)
- Duration prevalence: Two-, five-, 10- and 25-year limited duration prevalence estimates are based on the number of cancers diagnosed in the previous two, five, 10 and 25 years among people who are still alive on the given reference date of January 1, 2018 (i.e., the index date)
- The four prevalence durations refer to cancers diagnosed from 2016 to 2017, from 2013 to 2017, from 2008 to 2017, and from 1993 to 2017, respectively.
- Population estimates by sex, age group and province or territory on January 1, 2018, were calculated by averaging the mid-year 2017 and 2018 population counts by sex, age group and province or territory.12
- For sub-provincial and sub-territorial population estimates based on census counts, a standard average provincial growth rate13 was used to project population counts on census day (May 16, 2016) to January 1, 2018, assuming exponential population growth.
- Prevalence analyses were performed on a pre-existing analytic file: the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) death-linked file. It was created by linking CCR cases diagnosed from 1992 to 2017 to mortality information complete through December 31, 2017, via Statistics Canada’s Social Data Linkage Environment.14
- The CCR is a population-based database comprised of cases diagnosed among Canadian residents since 1992.15 The mortality information was obtained from the CCR itself, the Canadian Vital Statistics Death (CVSD) database – whose current scope is all deaths in Canada16 – and T1 personal master files (as reported on tax returns).
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Data used for this data dashboard arise from the Canadian Cancer Registry, under stewardship of Statistics Canada. Throughout the data dashboard, sex refers to sex assigned at birth, classified according to the standard used at Statistics Canada as male or female. Data for intersex, transgender, non-binary and gender-diverse people were unavailable.
Cancer cases were defined according to ICD-93 prior to 1992 and ICD-O-32 thereafter. Cancer deaths were defined according to ICD-93 prior to 2000 and ICD-106 thereafter. Table 1. outlines the ICD-9, ICD-O-3 and ICD-10 codes used to identify cancer cases and deaths by cancer type for this dashboard.
- Some definitions have changed slightly over time. Changes occurring since the 2004 edition of this publication are outlined in Tables 2. and 3.
- A new cancer grouping — head and neck cancers — has been included in the Canadian Cancer Statistics publications and this dashboard. This group subsumes the previously reported categories of oral (i.e., lip, oral cavity and pharynx) and laryngeal cancer. It additionally includes cancers of the nasal cavity, middle ear and accessory sinuses, which were previously included in the “all other cancers” category. The head and neck cancers group does not include thyroid cancer, which remains as its own independent category.
- Regarding new cancers for children (aged 0–14 years) were classified and reported according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program (SEER) update7 of the International Classification of Childhood Cancer, Third Edition (ICCC-3).8 The update was in response to new morphology codes introduced by the World Health Organization.9 The classification system is more appropriate for reporting childhood cancers because it acknowledges the major differences between cancers that develop during childhood and those that occur later in life. Non-malignant tumours were excluded.
| Cancer | ICD-O-3 Site/Type | ICD-9 | ICD-10 | ICD-9 |
| Incidence (1992-2017) | Incidence (1984-1991) | Incidence (2000-2019) | Incidence (1984-1999) | |
| Head and neck | C00-C14, C30-C32.9 | 140-149, 160, 161 | C00-C14, C30-C32.9 | C00-C14, C30-C32.9 |
| Esophagus | C15 | 150 | C15 | 150 |
| Stomach | C16 | 151 | C16 | 151 |
| Colorectal | C18-C20, C26.0 | 153, 159.0, 154.0, 154.1 | C18-C20, C26.0 | 153, 159.0, 154.0, 154.1 |
| Liver | C22.0 | 155.0 | C22.0, C22.2-C22.4, C22.7 | 155.0 |
| Lung and bronchus | C34 | 162.2-162.5 168.8, 162.9 | C34 | 162.2, 162.3, 162.4, 162.5, 162.8, 162.9 |
| Melanoma | C44 (Type 8720-8790) | 172 | C43 | 172 |
| Breast | C50 | 174, 175 | C50 | 174, 175 |
| Cervix | C53 | 180 | C53 | 180 |
| Uterus (body, NOS) | C54-C55 | 179, 182 | C54-C55 | 179, 182 |
| Ovary | C56.9 | 183.0 | C56 | 183.0 |
| Prostate | C61.9 | 185 | C61 | 185 |
| Testis | C62 | 186 | C62 | 186 |
| Bladder (including in situ for incidence) | C62 | 186 | C62 | 186 |
| Kidny and renal pelvis | C64.9, C65.9 | 189.0, 189.1 | C64-C65 | 189.0, 189.1 |
| Brain/CNS | C70-C72 | 191, 192 | C70-C72 | 191, 192 |
| Thyroid | C73.9 | 193 | C73 | 193 |
| Hodgkin lymphoma* | Type 9650–9667 | 201 | C81 | 201 |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma* | Type 9590–9597, 9670–9719, 9724–9729, 9735, 9737, 9738 Type 9811-9818, 9823, 9827, 9837 all sites except C42.0, C42.1, C42.4 | 200, 202.0–202.2, 202.8, 202.9 | C82–C86 | 200, 202.0–202.2, 202.8, 202.9 |
| Multiple myeloma* | Type 9731, 9732, 9734 | 203.0, 238.6 | C90.0, C90.2, C90.3 | 203.0, 238.6 |
| Leukemia* | Type 9733, 9742, 9800–9801, 9805-9809,9820, 9826, 9831–9836, 9840, 9860–9861, 9863, 9865–9867,9869–9876,9891, 9895–9898, 9910, 9911, 9920,9930–9931, 9940, 9945–9946, 9948, 9963–9964 Type 9811-9818, 9823, 9827, 9837 sites C42.0, C42.1, C42.4 | 204.0, 204.1, 205.0, 207.0, 207.2, 205.1, 202.4, 204.2, 204.8, 204.9, 205.2, 205.3, 205.8, 205.9, 206.0, 206.1, 206.2, 206.8, 206.9, 203.1, 207.1, 207.8, 208.0, 208.1, 208.2, 208.8, 208.9 | C91-C95, C90.1 | 204.0, 204.1, 205.0, 207.0, 207.2, 205.1, 202.4, 204.2, 204.8, 204.9, 205.2, 205.3, 205.8, 205.9, 206.0, 206.1, 206.2, 206.8, 206.9, 203.1, 207.1, 207.8, 208.0, 208.1, 208.2, 208.8, 208.9 |
| All other cancers | All sites C00–C80 not listed above | All sites 140-209 not listed above | All sites C00–C80 not listed above, C97 | All sites 140-209 not listed above |
| All invasive sites | All invasive sites | All invasive sites | All invasive sites | All invasive sites |
| New Definition | Year Changed | Old Definition | |
| Bladder | ICD-O-3 C67 (including in situ cancers, except for Ontario which did not report in situ bladder cancer cases prior to 2010) | 2006 | ICD-O-3, C67 (not including in situ cancers) |
| Colorectal | ICD-O-3 C18–C20, C26.0 | 2011 | ICD-O-3 C18–C21, C26.0 |
| Kidney and renal pelvis | ICD-O-3 C64–C65 | 2008 |
ICD-O-3 C33–C34 (before 2006) ICD-O-3 C34 (in 2006) ICD-O-3 C33–C34 (in 2007) |
| Ovary | ICD-O-3 C56 | 2006 | ICD-O-3 C56, C57.0–C57.4 |
| New Definition | Year Changed | Old Definition | |
| Colorectal | ICD-10 C18–C20, C26.0 | 2012 | ICD-10 C18-C21, C26.0 |
| Kidney and renal pelvis | ICD-10 C64–C65 | 2008 | ICD-10 C64–C66, C68 |
| Leukemia | ICD-10 C91–C95, C90.1 | 2008 | ICD-10 C91–C95 |
| Liver | ICD-10 C22.0, C22.2–C22.7 | 2007 |
ICD-10 C22 (before 2006) ICD-10 C22.0, C22.2–C22.9 (in 2006) |
| Lung and bronchus | ICD-10 C34 | 2008 |
ICD-10 C33–C34 (before 2006) ICD-10 C34 (in 2006) ICD-10 C33–C34 (in 2007) |
| Multiple myeloma | ICD-10 C90.0, C90.2 | 2008 |
ICD-10 C88, C90 (before 2007) ICD-10 C90 (in 2007) ICD-10 C56, C57.0–C57.4 |
| Ovary | ICD-10 C56 | 2006 | ICD-10 C56, C57.0-C57.4 |
| All other and unspecified cancers | ICD-10 C44, C46, C76–C80, C88,C96.0–C96.2, C96.7–C96.9, C97 | 2007 | ICD-10 C44, C46, C76–C80,C96.0–C96.2, C96.7–C96.9, C97 |
For more information about Methods (APPENDIX II)
- Statistics Canada [Internet]. Canadian Cancer Registry. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada; 2021. Available at: https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3207 (accessed April 2021).
- Fritz A, Percy C, Jack A, Shanmugaratnam K, Sobin L, Parkin D, et al (eds). International Classification of Disease for Oncology, Third edition, First revision. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2013.
- World Health Organization. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth revision. Volume 1 and 2 Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 1977.
- Centre international de recherche sur le cancer [Internet]. Règles internationales pour les cancers primitifs multiples (CIM-O Troisième édition). Lyon, France : CIRC ; 2004.
- Statistics Canada [Internet]. Canadian Vital Statistics—Death Database (CVSD). Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada; 2021. Available at: https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3233 (accessed April 2021).
- World Health Organization. International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems, Tenth revision. Volumes 1 to 3. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 1992.
- National Cancer Institute [Internet]. International Classification of Childhood Cancer (ICCC) Recode ICD-0-3/WHO 2008. Bethesda, MD: Surveillance Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER); 2008. Available at: https://seer.cancer.gov/iccc/iccc-who2008.html (accessed April 2021).
- Steliarova-Foucher E, Stiller C, Lacour B, Kaatsch P. International Classification of Childhood Cancer, Third edition. Cancer. 2005;103(7):1457–67.
- Swerdlow SH, Campo E, Harris NL. WHO Classification of Tumours of Haematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2008.
- Statistic Canada [Internet]. Social data linkage environment. Available at: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/sdle/index (accessed April 2021).
- Statistics Canada [Internet]. Canadian Vital Statistics—Death Database (CVSD). Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada; 2021. Available at: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3233 (accessed April 2021).
- Statistics Canada [Internet]. Canada’s population estimates: Total population, July 1, 2018. Available at: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/180927/dq180927c-eng.htm (accessed April 2022).
- Feldman AR, Kessler L, Myers MH, Naughton MD. The prevalence of cancer. Estimates based on the Connecticut Tumor Registry. N Engl J Med. 1986;315(22):1394–7.
- Statistics Canada [Internet]. Canadian Cancer Registry. 2021. Available at: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3207 (accessed April 2022).
- Statistics Canada [Internet]. Canadian Vital Statistics – Death database (CVSD). 2021. Available at: http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2&SDDS=3233 (accessed April 2022)
- International Agency for Research on Cancer. International Rules for Multiple Primary Cancers (ICD-O Third Edition). Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2004.
- The economic burden of cancer care in Canada: a population-based cost study - PubMed (nih.gov) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29301745/
- OncoSim – Canadian Partnership Against Cancer https://www.partnershipagainstcancer.ca/tools/oncosim/
For more information about references (APPENDIX II)
