Ontario Mortality Database - Data Sources

Data Source

Mortality data are collected under the Vital Statistics Act (R.S.O. 1990, Chapter V.4). For every death in Ontario a Statement of Death (Form 15) and a Medical Certificate of Death (Form 16) are completed and filed with a division registrar. Data from the two forms are combined to create a statistical record by the office of the Registrar General. The database is updated annually and sent to Statistics Canada for editing.

The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit receives the data for their residents from the Public Health Branch of the Ministry of Health, through its Health Planning System (HELPS) initiative.

Data Limitations

Due to legal reporting requirements, registration of deaths is considered to be virtually complete. However, records received after the "cut-off date" and deaths of Canadians occurring in other countries are missing.

Residence coding problems have been found in all vital statistics data files, particularly within metropolitan areas composed of multiple census subdivisions (CSD's).

In all cases, all available data (1981 to 1996) is presented in the report. There is generally a 2-3 year lag period before the database is available. As a new year's dataset is received, the report will be updated.