More on the moustache

It is the month of the moustache. During the month of November, the annual campaign for men’s health, Movember, encourages men to grow out their moustaches to heighten awareness for men’s mental health, suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. 

Raising awareness and having conversations can help reduce the stigma that creates barriers around these topics, encouraging all men to take care of themselves.

The data shows that in Canada, men are more likely to die young or die from preventable or avoidable causes than women, more likely to smoke or drink alcohol, and have higher rates of suicide and accidental deaths.

Men’s mental health

Bringing awareness to men’s mental health and having open conversations about men’s feelings and mental wellbeing is important at all ages.

Just over half of men in Canada (51.8%) perceived their mental health as excellent or very good during the first quarter of 2024, compared with less than half (44.1%) of women.

Over the same period, men were less likely to report fair or poor perceived mental health than women (17.8% versus 21.5%).

Despite being more likely to perceive their mental health as excellent or very good, males were almost three times more likely to die by suicide than females in 2022 (2,688 deaths versus 905). Suicide was the 10th leading cause of death for males in 2022.

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among men.

Estimates suggest that just over 127,100 Canadian men will be diagnosed with a new cancer in 2024. Just over one in five of these diagnoses were for prostate cancer, making it by far the leading cancer found among men.

In 2024, 27,900 men are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, while 5,000 men are expected to die from it. Most cases are diagnosed among men aged 50 and older, and 85% of prostate cancer deaths occur among men aged 70 and older.

When prostate cancer is diagnosed early, the prognosis is encouraging. The five-year net survival consistently approaches 100% among men diagnosed with prostate cancer at one of the first three stages but declines to 41% at stage IV. From 2010 to 2017, 11% of the prostate cancers diagnosed were at stage IV.

Healthy habits

Lifestyle behaviours play an important role in health outcomes. There are many ways to improve overall wellbeing, such as reducing smoking and drinking, having regular doctor’s visits and eating a balanced diet.

Avoidable premature mortality, defined as dying before the age of 75 because of a condition that could have been prevented or effectively treated with timely health care, is much more common among males than females. In 2021 for example, the age-standardized premature mortality rates were 376.4 for males and 222.8 for females per 100,000 population of the same sex.

In 2022, a higher proportion of males aged 12 and over (22.9%) reported heavy drinking than females (16.6%).

In 2023, among Canadians aged 18 years and older living in the provinces, a higher proportion of males than females reported smoking daily or occasionally (13.4% versus 9.5%), or smoking every day (10.0% versus 7.4%).

A higher proportion of females reported eating fruit and vegetables five or more times per day (25.8%) compared with males (17.3%) in 2023. Overall, 21.6% of Canadians aged 18 and older living in the provinces reported eating fruits and vegetables five or more times per day in 2023, down 10 percentage points from 2015 (31.5%).

9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline

Canada now has adopted 9-8-8 as the national three-digit number for suicide prevention support. The 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline provides people in Canada with free access to 24/7, 365 days a year, bilingual, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate suicide prevention support by phone and text. If you call or text 9-8-8, trained crisis responders will listen to you and provide support with compassion, providing a safe space for you to talk.

Additional resources are available on this mental health support page and on the Government of Canada website on suicide prevention.