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What we know about the first 1,000 COVID-19 deaths in Canada – CBC.ca

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Ruth Sheppard was 93 years old when she died at an Ontario nursing home, without any loved ones by her side.

Her decline, due to COVID-19, was rapid. Sheppard’s daughter Tami, who had Down syndrome and lived in the same residence, stopped eating when her mother disappeared from her life, and died herself six days later.

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Their friends and family were not allowed into the care home to say goodbye.

“You know how everybody talks about closure?” said Dorothy Hannon, one of Ruth Sheppard’s closest friends. “I guess that’s what you don’t get now, with close people dying and you’re not being able to even see them.”

Across the country, thousands of Canadians are struggling with this lack of closure. Physically prohibited from being with their loved ones in their final moments, they are saying goodbye on phones, screens or, in some cases, not at all.

For several weeks, a team of CBC journalists has been keeping track of those who died, trying to find out as much as we can about who these people were in an effort to tell their stories.

At the beginning, this was easier. Public health officials were able to share more information — ages, genders, cities — when the numbers were relatively low. In some cases, they even revealed how these people came to acquire the virus.

But as the virus claimed more lives, the daily death toll became a flat number announced at a news conference or sometimes just posted unceremoniously on a website. Twenty here, another 60 there. Points on a curve that may or may not be flattening.

The story of COVID-19 in Canada is more than a graph. Each of those data points represents a hole in the lives of a Canadian family, who are now forced to mourn at a distance.

Here are some of the stories behind the first 1,000 lives lost to COVID-19.

Early days

Canada recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19 in late January, but it wasn’t until March 8 that the virus claimed its first victim in this country.

In a case that would foreshadow many of the deaths to come, the victim was a man in his 80s who was a care-home resident. His family has asked for privacy to mourn their loss, but it is publicly known that he lived at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver, where COVID-19 claimed seven of its first 10 victims.

Ming Ball Lee and his daughter, Nancy Lee, used to go for dim sum in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

March 14 • North Vancouver, B.C.

One of those early victims was Ming Ball Lee, who immigrated to Canada from southern China in 1949. His first years in this country were marked by hard physical labour in the mines of northern Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, his daughter, Nancy Lee, said in an interview.

Later in life, he moved to Bowen Island, B.C., where he lived a quiet life marked by a meticulous routine some island residents could set their clocks by. “He would walk every single day, rain or shine, and people would stop and offer him a ride, and he would refuse,” Nancy recalled.

Lee moved to the Lynn Valley Care Centre in 2013, and Nancy visited regularly to bring him lunch or cut his hair.

On one such Saturday visit, Nancy noticed signs on her father’s floor warning of COVID-19. The following Tuesday, she was told by staff that her father had a fever, and on Wednesday that he’d tested positive for COVID-19. Lee said she received regular updates over the following days, including one on Friday afternoon that her father had been up and had had something to eat. Nancy recalled taking comfort from this message: Her father was doing fine.

Twelve hours later, he was dead.

The first COVID-19 death outside B.C.’s Lower Mainland happened March 11, but wasn’t reported by the province of Ontario until six days later. Little is known about the 77-year-old man who died at a hospital in Barrie, other than the fact that he had underlying health conditions and acquired the disease through close contact with someone who had travelled.

A week later, COVID-19 struck in Quebec for the first time.

Photograph of Mariette Tremblay

March 18 • Lavaltrie, Que.

Mariette Tremblay was a well-loved mother, grandmother and great grandmother who was the beating heart of a large and growing family, according to a Facebook post that has been the family’s only public statement on her death. She was well known in Lavaltrie, a town about 50 kilometres northeast of Montreal, for her kindness and generosity. Despite having so many people who loved her, Tremblay died in hospital without any of them by her side.

“We wanted to be able to hold her hand, to comfort her, to speak softly into her ear, but we didn’t have the chance,” the family wrote.

according to our analysis. CBC was able to establish age ranges for 296 of these individuals, and the age distribution closely mirrored national data from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

As of April 15, the day Canada marked its 1,000th COVID-19-related death, eight out of 10 people who had died were over the age of 70.

But the virus had claimed the lives of younger Canadians as well.

Photograph of Shawn Auger

March 30 • Big Lakes County, Alta.

Shawn Auger was a married father of three who worked with at-risk youth in northern Alberta. Auger’s friend Shane Farnham, a former co-worker at the youth assessment centre in High Prairie, Alta., remembers him as the person who taught him to believe in himself.

“Without him, I don’t know who I’d be right now,” said Farnham in an interview.

It was difficult work, helping youth transition out of group homes, but Auger’s impact was such that former clients would keep in touch with him for years, Farnham said. “There could be a billion other people in my position who could tell you how they were heard, supported or listened to [by Auger].”

In his spare time, Auger coached girls’ hockey in his home community. Last year, he posted a photo on social media of his daughter on her knees after a game, thanking Jesus for the win. “Man my girls amaze me every day,” he wrote.

When Auger died, community members put hockey sticks outside their doors in his honour.

Photograph of Nicole Hoffman

April 3 • Edmonton

Nicole Hoffman is Canada’s youngest known victim of COVID-19. She was in her 20s, and her fiancé confirmed on a fundraising website that she died due to COVID-19. The family declined to comment further.

Health-care workers are one of the groups most at risk of contracting COVID-19. The country lost the first such worker to the virus in B.C. on April 5.

Photograph of Warlito Valdez

April 5 • Richmond, B.C.

Warlito Valdez was a devoted husband and father to a young daughter.

He worked at a group home for adults with disabilities in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond. Originally from the Philippines, Valdez worked as a nurse in Saudi Arabia before coming to Canada.

His widow, Flozier Tabangin, said her husband loved the work he did, caring for those in need. “He was a hero … it’s just too sad that he got [COVID-19]. It’s very devastating.”

Tabangin now worries about how she will support her young daughter without her husband. “Now that he’s gone, how can we survive? In living, with this house, with my little one, with only [one] paycheque … It’s hard. It’s a very tough one.”

but the majority of the first 1,000 were in Quebec and Ontario, with more than 400 in each province. One in four people who died were in Montreal or Laval — and the Greater Toronto Area was not far behind.

Most deaths in seniors residences

At the beginning of April, a rapidly growing number of deaths were starting to take place in senior care homes or residences.

That figure only increased as new deaths were reported and confirmed to be the result of COVID-19. By the end of April, as the national death toll approached 3,000, CBC had confirmed two-thirds occurred in seniors residences or care facilities. In Quebec, the figure was closer to 80 per cent.

Tami Sheppard photographed with her mother Ruth Sheppard

April 1 (Ruth) and April 7 (Tami) • Bobcaygeon, Ont.

Ruth and Tami Sheppard were a mother and daughter who lived in the same room at the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ont., one of the first in the province to be hit hard by COVID-19.

Tami Sheppard had Down syndrome and was close to her mother all her life, said Ruth’s friend Dorothy Hannon, whose daughter is married to Ruth’s son. The two shared grandchildren and used to speak on the phone every day.

Ruth was a talkative, friendly person who loved arts and crafts and playing euchre, Hannon recalled. She said Ruth’s auburn hair never went grey, even at the age of 93.

Ruth had only been living at Pinecrest about three months, and her daughter a few weeks longer.

“When Ruth died … I guess [Tami] couldn’t understand where Ruth was and what had happened to her, why she was gone, and she wouldn’t get out of bed and she wouldn’t eat, apparently.”

Tami died six days after her mother.

She was later confirmed to have had the virus.

In mid-April, one of the oldest of the first 1,000 victims died in a Toronto-area care home.

Helen Doidge Hall

April 15 • Markham, Ont.

Kathy Graham describes her mother, Helen Doidge Hall, as “pretty much unsinkable.” A little more than a month before she died, the 102-year-old had a pacemaker put in.

“I think the cardiologist that met with her realized she was very much still with it and had a real love of life,” Graham said. “She was always looking forward to the next thing, the next family event.”

Doidge Hall was born in Kent County, Ont., in July 1917, the daughter of a minister. Her mother died shortly before her 13th birthday. Doidge Hall trained as a teacher, and her first posting was in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Milford, Ont.

She met her future husband, Clarence Doidge, at church. After he returned from fighting in the Second World War, they had four children together. Shortly before Doidge had planned to retire and take some time to travel with his wife, he passed away.

Despite the many hardships of her mother’s life, Graham said she never lost her sense of humour.

“She did have some hard things that happened, but she really figured out how to live a very happy life. And if that could be put in a bottle and distributed, we’d all live a much, much happier life.”

On April 15, Canada marked its 1,000th COVID-19-related death.

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Alberta's population surges by record-setting 202,000 people: Here's where they all came from – CBC.ca

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Alberta smashed population-growth records in the past year, mainly due to people moving to the province from across Canada and around the world.

The province’s population surged to just over 4.8 million as of Jan. 1, according to new estimates released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

That’s an increase of 202,324 residents compared with a year earlier, which marks — by far — the largest annual increase on record.

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Alberta also broke a national record in 2023 for interprovincial migration, with a net gain of 55,107 people.

“This was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data became available in 1972,” Statistics Canada said in a release.


Most of the interprovincial migrants came from Ontario and British Columbia.

Statistics Canada estimates that 38,236 Ontarians moved to Alberta last year, versus 14,860 Albertans who moved to Ontario, for a net gain of 23,376 people.

Similarly, an estimated 37,650 British Columbians moved to Alberta, compared to 22,400 Albertans who moved to B.C., for a net gain of 15,250.


All told, interprovincial migration accounted for 27 per cent of Alberta’s population growth over the past year.

That put it just ahead of permanent immigration, which accounted for 26 per cent, and well ahead of natural population increase (more births than deaths), which accounted for eight per cent.

The largest component, however, was temporary international migration.

Non-permanent residents from other countries accounted for 39 per cent of the province’s population growth in the past year, reflecting a national trend.


Canada’s population reached 40,769,890 on Jan. 1, according to Statistics Canada estimates, which is up 3.2 per cent from a year ago.

“Most of Canada’s 3.2-per-cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration in 2023,” Statistics Canada noted.

“Without temporary immigration, that is, relying solely on permanent immigration and natural increase (births minus deaths), Canada’s population growth would have been almost three times less (1.2 per cent).”

Alberta’s population, meanwhile, grew by 4.4 per cent year-over-year.

Alberta now represents 11.8 per cent of the country’s population, its largest proportion on record. 

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Why Canada's record population growth is helping – and hurting – the economy – CTV News

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Canada has recorded the fastest population growth in 66 years, increasing by 1.3 million people, or 3.2 per cent, in 2023, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

The country has not seen such growth since 1957, when the spike was attributed to the baby boom and an influx of immigrants fleeing Hungary.

The vast majority of Canada’s growth last year was due to immigration, with temporary residents — which includes foreign workers and international students — making up the largest proportion of newcomers.

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“We need people coming to Canada to help with our economy,” says Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of planning at the University of Toronto. “There are many jobs and professions where there are vacancies, and that is having an impact, whether in the healthcare sector or trades and construction sector.”

Siemiatycki adds immigrants also bring “ingenuity… resources… and culture” to Canada.

Newcomers are relied on to help keep pace with Canada’s aging population and declining fertility rates, but the influx also presents a challenge for a country struggling to build the homes and infrastructure needed for immigrants.

“It’s an incredibly large shock for the economic system to absorb because of just the sheer number of people coming into the country in a short period of time,” says Robert Kavcic. a senior economist and director with BMO Capital Markets.

“The reality is population can grow extremely fast, but the supply side of the economy like housing and service infrastructure, think health care and schools, can only catch up at a really gradual pace,” Kavcic says. “So there is a mismatch right now.”

The impact of that mismatch can most acutely be seen in the cost of rent, services and housing.

In December, Kavcic wrote in a note that Canada needs to build 170,000 new housing units every three months to keep up with population growth, noting the industry is struggling to complete 220,000 units in a full year.

To address this, Ottawa has announced plans to cap the number of new temporary residents while also reducing the number of international student visas, a move economists say could offer some relief when it comes to housing and the cost of living.

“The arithmetic on the caps actual works relatively well because it would take us back down to 1 per cent population growth which we have been used to over the last decade and which is more or less absorbable by the economy,” Kavcic says. “The question is whether or not we see policy makers follow through and hit those numbers.”

Economists believe these changes could help ease inflationary pressures and may make a Bank of Canada rate cut more likely, but could also lead to slower GDP growth.

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Canada’s population hits 41M months after breaking 40M threshold – Global News

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Nine months after reaching a population of 40 million, Canada has cracked a new threshold.

As of Wednesday morning, it’s estimated 41 million people now call the country home, according to Statistics Canada’s live population tracker.

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The speed at which Canada’s population is growing was also reflected in new data released Wednesday by the federal agency: between Jan. 1 2023 and Jan. 1 2024, Canada added 1,271,872 inhabitants, a 3.2 per cent growth rate — the highest since 1957.

Most of Canada’s 3.2 per cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration. Without it, Canada’s population growth would have been 1.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said.


Click to play video: 'Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population'

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Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population


From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, Canada’s population increased by 241,494 people (0.6 per cent), the highest rate of growth in a fourth quarter since 1956.

Usha George, a professor at the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement at Toronto Metropolitan University, told Global News in June a booming population can benefit the economy.

“It is not the bodies we are bringing in; these are bodies that fill in the empty spaces in the labour market,” she said.

“They bring a very-high level of skills.”


Click to play video: 'Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan'

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Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan


However, Ottawa has recently sought to ease the flow of temporary immigration in a bid to ease cost-of-living woes.


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Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 Ottawa would set targets for temporary residents allowed into Canada to ensure “sustainable” growth in the number of temporary residents entering the nation.

The next day, BMO economist Robert Kavcic in a note to clients the new limits will have a positive impact on Canada’s rental market and overall housing crisis.

“We’ve been firm in our argument that Canada has had an excess demand problem in housing, and this is maybe the clearest example,” Kavcic said.

“Non-permanent resident inflows, on net, have swelled to about 800K in the latest year, with few checks and balances in place, putting tremendous stress on housing supply and infrastructure.”

Alberta gains, Ontario loses: A look at Canadian migration in 2023

If Alberta is truly calling, then it appears more Canadians are choosing to answer.

Putting the pun on the provincial government’s attraction campaign aside, Canada’s wild rose country saw the largest net gain in interprovincial migration in 2023, Statistics Canada said in Wednesday’s report.


Click to play video: 'Is Alberta ready for population growth?'

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Is Alberta ready for population growth?


The agency said 55,107 Canadians moved to Alberta last year, which was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data become available in 1972.

“Alberta has been recording gains in population from interprovincial migration since 2022, a reverse of the trend seen from 2016 to 2021, when more people left the province than arrived from other parts of Canada,” Statistics Canada said.

“Approximately 333,000 Canadians moved from one province or territory to another in 2023, the second-highest number recorded since the 1990s and the third straight year that interprovincial migration topped 300,000.”

Meanwhile, British Columbia had 8,624 more residents move out than in in 2023, meaning net interprovincial migration was negative for the first time since 2012, Statistics Canada said.

In general, the largest migration flows for British Columbia and Alberta are with each other, and most of the net loss from British Columbia in 2023 was to Alberta, it added.


Click to play video: '‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population'

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‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population


It also seems that good things may no longer be growing in Ontario; Canada’s most populous province lost 36,197 people to other regions in 2023, the biggest regional loss in 2023, Statistics Canada said.

That followed a loss of 38,816 people in 2022; the only other times a province has lost more than 35,000 people due to migration to other parts of Canada occurred in Quebec in 1977 and 1978.

Alberta aside, net interprovincial migration was also up in Nova Scotia (+6,169 people), New Brunswick (+4,790) and Prince Edward Island (+818), although all three Maritime provinces gained fewer interprovincial migrants in 2023 than in the two previous years, Statistics Canada said.

— with files from Uday Rana and Sean Previl

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