What it measures
Dimension: Life Expectancy/Mortality
This indicator identifies the number of years a person would be expected to live beginning at birth. Life expectancy is based on the mortality (frequency of death) statistics for a given observation period. Canadians have made consistent gains in life expectancy over the past decades. On average, a Canadian born in 2009 could expect to live to 81.1 years. This has increased from 78.2 years in 1994, and is one of the longest life expectancies of any nation in the world.
Why this matters
Unlike other indicators in this domain, life expentancy provides a measure of population health based on quantity of life rather than quality of life. Trends in life expectancy can be used to inform how the health of Canadians is shifting with improvements to systems and services over time.