Fact File: COVID-19 fuelled drop in life expectancy, contrary to podcast claims

In September, a clip from a January 2024 episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast resurfaced online.

Rogan’s guest, the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, claimed Canada experienced an “unprecedented” drop in life expectancy starting in 2020. Rogan and Hinchliffe implied the COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots caused the decrease; accounts sharing the clip made similar claims.

While it’s true Canada’s life expectancy at birth fell between 2020 and 2023, Statistics Canada data shows COVID-19 and opioid deaths were the largest contributors to the decline, and life expectancy has since increased.

As of January 2024, Health Canada identified four deaths as having a causal association with COVID-19 vaccination.

THE CLAIM

“Canada’s overall life expectancy … that might be the craziest statistics in the world right now,” comedian Tony Hinchliffe said in a January 2024 episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.

Hinchliffe said Canada’s life expectancy went down since 2020, an “unprecedented” drop.

“It’s not like there was a gigantic medical intervention that was forced upon that population during that time,” host Rogan said in an apparent reference to the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Again and again and booster and booster,” Hinchliffe said.

A clip of their exchange appeared on the X platform, formerly Twitter, in September, receiving around 27,000 likes. On Instagram, the clip received 120,000 views. Neither post explained the clip was more than a year old.

“Many folks are making the correlation that the vaccine may have a lot to do with this concerning drop (in life expectancy),” the Instagram post reads.

THE FACTS

It’s true that Canada’s life expectancy saw a three-year decline between 2020 and 2023.

Life expectancy was 81.7 years in 2020, down from 82.3 in 2019. Statistics Canada called it the “largest annual decline in life expectancy” since the agency began tracking life and death statistics in 1921, so Hinchcliffe’s use of “unprecedented” is accurate.

However, there is no evidence that links the COVID-19 vaccine to Canada’s decline in life expectancy during that period.

In 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic began, Canada saw 307,205 deaths. That’s an increase of 7.7 per cent compared with the year prior.

COVID-19 was the third leading cause of deaths for Canadians that year. Canada also saw an increase in deaths related to substance use, including accidental poisoning and overdose.

Statistics Canada observed similar trends in 2021 and 2022. The number of deaths in Canada increased each year, and life expectancy decreased each year.

A Statistics Canada report released after the podcast aired showed life expectancy rose to 81.7 years in 2023, an increase of 0.4 years from 2022 and the first increase since the three-year dip in 2020. However, life expectancy was still 0.5 years below the 2019 level.

COVID-19 was among the leading causes of death in Canada in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, as of Jan. 5, 2024 there were 488 reported deaths after COVID-19 vaccination. The agency found four deaths “were consistent with causal association to immunization.”

“Life expectancy declines when there are more deaths, when deaths occur at younger ages, or a combination of both,” Statistics Canada notes.

Statistics Canada found the pandemic likely had indirect consequences, including an increase in substance use and fatal overdoses.

Data from Canada’s Health Infobase shows opioid toxicity deaths accounted for 7.8 out of 100,000 deaths in Canada in 2016. By 2024, the rate rose to 17.6.

A Statistics Canada report from February shows the decline in life expectancy at birth in British Columbia during the pandemic was largely caused by deaths from either COVID-19 or toxic unregulated drugs.

The Canadian Press previously fact checked false claims about ivermectin and fenbendazole made on the Joe Rogan podcast in January.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.