he did have a close call a few years back that caused him to slow down and not perform for a couple of years....he was rushed to a hospital either during or after a show in Orillia , if memory serves me right..here are the details..
In 2002 a near-fatal medical emergency left Lightfoot in a coma for six weeks. In November of 2004, In November, he made his long-awaited return to the concert stage with two sold-out benefit shows in Hamilton, Ontario. On September 14, 2006, while in the middle of a performance, Lightfoot suffered a minor stroke that eventually left him without the use of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He returned to performing nine days later and for a brief time used a substitute guitarist for more difficult guitar work. Since early 2007, however, Lightfoot has regained full use of his right hand and plays all of the guitar parts in concert as he originally wrote them. He has continued to perform well into 2009.

While a tour was being planned for 2008, Lightfoot's manager, Barry Harvey, died at age 56 on 4 December 2007. In late 2009, Lightfoot undertook a 26 city tour.