Key facts
- Canada will indefinitely suspend plans to expand medically assisted dying to people whose sole condition is mental illness.
- Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced the decision, citing a lack of consensus on eligibility.
- The government plans to introduce new legislation in the coming weeks to enact the suspension.
- The proposed legislation will also allow advanced consent for assisted dying for patients with progressing incurable illnesses.
- Medically assisted dying became legal in Canada in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses.
- It was expanded in 2021 to people with incurable conditions but whose death was not imminent.
Canada has announced an indefinite suspension of its plans to expand its medically assisted dying (MAID) law to individuals whose sole condition is mental illness. Justice Minister Sean Fraser stated that the decision was made due to a lack of consensus on eligibility criteria.
The government intends to introduce new legislation in the coming weeks to formalize this indefinite suspension. This move means that Canadians with mental illness as their only condition will not be able to access assisted dying by the previously planned March 2027 deadline.
Alongside the suspension, the proposed legislation will also address advanced consent for MAID. This would permit patients with a progressing incurable illness to consent to assisted dying before they reach a state where they are unable to do so themselves, a provision not currently legal.
Medically assisted dying was legalized in Canada in 2016 for individuals with terminal illnesses. In 2021, following a court case in Quebec, the law was expanded to include those with incurable conditions, even if their death was not imminent, a pathway known as "track two" MAID.
The expansion of MAID has been a subject of controversy, with disability advocacy groups raising concerns about instances where assisted dying was reportedly offered to individuals with disabilities without their explicit request. Canada had initially planned to expand the law to those with mental illness in 2023 but delayed the implementation twice to allow for further study.