The Lost Code

Dying in Montréal

In the second half of the 19th century, the infant mortality rate in Montréal was 300 per 1,000—one of the highest in North America. Diarrhea, whooping cough, mumps, typhoid, tuberculosis, smallpox, and cholera claimed children's lives. In the 1860s, one in three children died before the age of four. In working-class neighborhoods, the mortality rate was 35 per 1,000. In comparison, Québec's current mortality rate 7/1,000.