Statistics Canada says, from March to June, there were more than seven thousand excess deaths in Canada. Excess mortality occurs when there are more deaths during a period of time than what would normally be expected. The measure helps to understand the direct and indirect effects of the COVID pandemic. Direct effects are deaths attributable to COVID-19; the indirect deaths relate to measures put in place as a result of the pandemic. These could result in increases or decreases in mortality such as missed or delayed medical interventions fewer traffic-related incidents, and other possible changes in behavior such as increased substance use.

By July, the number of weekly deaths returned to a range that would be expected had there not been a pandemic. But deaths attributable to COVID began to trend upward again in early fall. In the first ten days of October alone, the 244 deaths reported was higher than the monthly totals of 191 in August and 171 in September. Statistics Canada says some of the excess deaths in the first wave of the pandemic could be the result of indirect impacts or other causes not linked directly to the pandemic.

A study has also been done on COVID-19 mortality rates in ethno-cultural neighbourhoods. It found rates were higher during the first wave in neighbourhoods characterised by higher proportions of visible minorities.