In Canada, from 2015 to 2020, there were approximately 1,700 deaths per year among infants under the age of 1. On average, 1 in 15 (110) of these deaths occurred while the infant was sleeping. While a number of deaths that occurred during sleep were of natural causes, such as respiratory diseases or congenital defects, the majority (83%) were sudden and unexpected and occurred in otherwise healthy infants. Sudden and unexpected sleep-related deaths are either caused by a threat to breathing such as suffocation or strangulation, or an undetermined cause, where a cause of death cannot be determined from the investigation or autopsy. While sleep-related deaths of undetermined cause have historically been referred to as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), this term has not been used for the classification of infant deaths in most provinces and territories in Canada since 2012.
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