Publications & statistics


Suicides in Alberta 2007 / Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Alberta Justice - Revised: May 14, 2009
December 31, 2007

In 2007 there were 473 suicides investigated by the Alberta Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, 9 of them were from out of province or of no identifiable address. Any of the data that presents regional data or rates will present based only the 468 Albertans, all remaining data will include all cases investigated.

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Province of Alberta
2007 Suicides by Age Group

Age Range

Female Male Total Female Rate/10,000 Population Male Rate/10,000 Population Total Rate/10,000 Population
Age 10-14 1 2 3 0.1 0.2 0.1
Age 15-19 8 11 19 0.7 0.9 0.8
Age 20-24 16 38 54 1.3 3.0 2.2
Age 25-29 11 30 41 0.9 2.4 1.7
Age 30-34 5 21 26 0.4 1.7 1.1
Age 35-39 10 34 44 0.8 2.8 1.8
Age 40-44 15 38 53 1.1 2.9 2.0
Age 45-49 15 44 59 1.1 3.1 2.1
Age 50-54 16 46 62 1.3 3.6 2.5
Age 55-59 19 21 40 2.0 2.1 2.1
Age 60-64 8 11 19 1.1 1.5 1.3
Age 65-69 4 13 17 0.7 2.5 1.6
Age 70-74 3 8 11 0.7 1.9 1.3
Age 75-79 3 6 9 0.8 1.8 1.2
Age 80-84 2 6 8 0.7 2.9 1.6
Age 85-89 0 2 2 0.0 2.0 0.7
Age 90 + 0 1 1 0.0 2.6 0.7
Total 136 332 468 0.8 2.0 1.4

*rate calculated as per 10,000

Populations based on Alberta Health and Wellness Population Estimates as at March 31, 2007 by Age Group and Registrant Health Region, December 2005 boundaries.

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Province of Alberta
2007 Suicides by Age Range and Region of Residency

Age Range Chinook Palliser Calgary David
Thompson 		East
Central 		Capital Aspen Peace Northern
Lights 		Total
Age 10-14 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
Age 15-19 0 2 6 1 0 1 5 2 2 19
Age 20-24 4 3 16 11 2 10 6 1 1 54
Age 25-29 3 2 15 4 0 12 3 1 1 41
Age 30-34 0 2 8 4 0 8 2 1 1 26
Age 35-39 3 2 9 5 0 20 1 2 2 44
Age 40-44 4 1 18 5 0 19 3 3 0 53
Age 45-49 4 1 11 7 1 26 7 1 1 59
Age 50-54 4 2 20 7 3 16 5 4 1 62
Age 55-59 1 2 16 6 0 13 0 1 1 40
Age 60-64 2 1 7 2 0 4 2 0 1 19
Age 65-69 1 0 4 0 1 5 6 0 0 17
Age 70-74 3 1 4 0 0 3 0 0 0 11
Age 75-79 0 1 0 2 0 4 1 1 0 9
Age 80-84 0 1 5 0 0 2 0 0 0 8
Age 85-89 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
Age 90 + 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 30 21 142 55 7 144 41 17 11 468

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Province of Alberta
2007 Suicides by Method and Gender

Includes all suicides investigated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Province of Alberta in 2007

METHOD Female % Female Male % Male Total % Total
CARBON MONOXIDE 12 25.0% 36 75.0% 48 10.1%
DROWNING 2 28.6% 3 60.0% 5 1.1%
FIREARMS 3 3.9% 74 96.1% 77 16.3%
HANGING / STRANGULATION 44 25.7% 127 74.3% 171 36.2%
HYPOTHERMIA 0 0.0% 1 100.0% 1 0.2%
JUMP FROM HEIGHT / FALL 2 15.4% 11 84.6% 13 2.7%
MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH 0 0.0% 1 100.0% 1 0.2%
PEDESTRIAN (STRUCK BY MOTOR VEHICLE) 0 0.0% 3 100.0% 3 0.6%
OVERDOSE 63 54.8% 52 45.2% 115 24.3%
PEDESTRIAN (STRUCK BY TRAIN) 1 25.0% 3 75.0% 5 1.1%
PLASTIC BAG 2 33.3% 4 66.7% 6 1.3%
SLASH / STAB 6 33.3% 11 64.7% 17 3.6%
OTHER POISONING 1 25.0% 3 75.0% 4 0.86%
OTHER* 2 25.0% 6 75.0% 8 1.75%
TOTAL 137 29.0% 336 71.0% 473 100.0%

Leading method of suicide was hanging accounting for over one-third of all suicides completed in Alberta in 2007

Top 3 methods for females were overdoses, hanging, and carbon monoxide accounting for 86.9% of all female suicides.

Top 3 for methods for males were hanging, firearms, and overdoses accounting for 75.3% of all male suicides.

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Province of Alberta
2007 Suicides by Month

Includes all suicides investigated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Province of Alberta in 2007.

MONTH Total
January 46
February 41
March 42
April 32
May 41
June 37
July 55
August 32
September 33
October 41
November 43
December 30
Total 473

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Province of Alberta
Suicides by Regional Health Authority of Residence; 2007

Regional Health Authority Number of Suicides Rate per 100,000 Population Number of Suicides Rate per 100,000 Population Number of Suicides Rate per 100,000 Population
Total Total Female Female Male Male
Chinook 30 18.9 10 12.5 20 25.4
Palliser 21 20.0 4 7.7 17 32.2
Calgary 142 11.6 48 7.8 94 15.3
David Thompson 55 18.1 17 11.2 38 25.0
East Central 7 6.2 1 1.8 6 10.7
Capital 144 13.8 41 7.8 103 19.9
Aspen 41 22.9 7 7.9 34 37.3
Peace 17 12.0 4 5.8 13 18.0
Northern Lights 11 14.0 4 10.6 7 17.5
Total 468 14.0 136 8.1 332 19.8

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Province of Alberta
Suicides by Regional Health Authority of Residence, Trended 2004-2007

Regional Health 2004 2005 2006 2007
Authority # Suicides Rate* # Suicides Rate* # Suicides Rate* # Suicides Rate*
Chinook 27 17.5 23 14.9 33 21.0 30 18.9
Palliser 13 13.0 16 15.9 15 14.6 21 20.0
Calgary 141 12.3 118 10.1 121 10.1 142 11.6
David Thompson 62 21.4 48 16.3 49 16.4 55 18.1
East Central 7 6.4 11 10.0 15 13.5 7 6.2
Capital 143 14.4 135 13.4 136 13.3 144 13.8
Aspen 27 15.3 33 18.7 44 24.7 41 22.9
Peace 20 15.0 23 17.0 24 17.4 17 12.0
Northern Lights 7 9.7 8 10.9 10 13.1 11 14.0
Total 447 14.1 415 12.9 447 13.6 468 14.0

Historical data has been categorized into the December 2003 Alberta Health and Wellness Regional Health Authority Boundaries.

Rates are per 100,000 population and are calculated using the Alberta Health and Wellness Population Estimates* by Age Group and Registrant Health Region

* March 31, 2004, March 31, 2005, March 31, 2006, and March 31, 2007

Please note, these figures may differ from those previously published on the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner webpage. Our database is fluid and changes constantly depending on the information we have available. Also more current population figures were used to calculate the rates. As of May 14, 2009 these are the figures that should be used. If you have any questions concerning this data or require additional information, please contact the Research Officer, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for Alberta at (780) 427-4987.

Revised May 14, 2009