VICTORIA—Something has been killing young men in Western Canada — something that’s not COVID-19. At least, not directly.

New numbers released by Statistics Canada point to deadly knock-on effects of the pandemic, even for the parts of the population less vulnerable to infection from the virus itself.

The data, released Monday, looks at what statisticians call “excess deaths,” meaning the number of people who have died above and beyond what would be predicted in a normal year.

From May to October, 7,172 Canadians under the age of 45 died — 1,385 more than statisticians predicted for that time period.

A large majority — 81 per cent — were men.

Of the “excess” deaths of young men in the summer, most were concentrated in B.C. or Alberta.

So what killed them?

Some mystery remains around that question.

Read the full article here.