Date: October 7, 2026
Reporter: Emilly Jordan
The Canadian government will not proceed with plans to expand medical assistance in dying (MAID) to people whose only underlying medical condition is a mental illness, Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced Wednesday, ending years of debate over whether the eligibility rules should be broadened.
Fraser said the federal government intends to introduce legislation later this fall that would maintain the current exclusion on an indefinite basis. Under the existing law, people whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness are not eligible for MAID. That exclusion is currently scheduled to expire on March 17, 2027.
“Canada has made a decision not to move forward with the expansion that is scheduled in the Criminal Code,” Fraser said, referring to circumstances in which mental illness is the sole basis for a request for medical assistance in dying.
The decision follows the work of a parliamentary special joint committee that examined whether Canada should proceed with the planned expansion. In a report released in June, the committee recommended that MAID should not be made available solely on the basis of mental illness.
Fraser said the government considered the committee's findings and concluded that there were significant concerns about people living in communities where access to mental-health services remains inadequate.
“While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time,” Fraser said.
Canada legalized MAID in 2016 following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that found parts of the country's Criminal Code prohibiting assisted dying unconstitutional. Parliament subsequently established a legal framework setting out eligibility requirements and safeguards.
The rules have changed since then. Legislation passed in 2021 expanded eligibility and removed the requirement that a person's natural death be reasonably foreseeable. However, the law maintained a temporary exclusion for people whose only medical condition is a mental illness.
The exclusion was originally scheduled to end in 2023, but Parliament repeatedly delayed the change. In March 2023, the government extended the exclusion to March 2024, and legislation passed in February 2024 extended it again, this time until March 17, 2027. The additional time was intended to allow governments, health systems and medical professionals to prepare for the potential expansion and develop appropriate guidance and safeguards.
The latest government decision means that the anticipated expansion will not take effect when the current exclusion reaches its scheduled expiry date.
The issue has generated sharply different views among advocates, medical professionals, lawmakers and people living with mental illness. Supporters of eligibility have argued that people with severe and persistent mental illnesses should not automatically be excluded from decisions about their own medical care, particularly in cases involving prolonged suffering and treatment-resistant conditions.
Opponents and other critics have raised concerns about whether it is possible to reliably determine when a mental illness is irremediable, whether a person's desire to die can be adequately distinguished from symptoms of their illness and whether people could seek MAID because they lack access to appropriate housing, health care, disability supports or other social services.
The parliamentary committee's recommendation against expansion reflected some of those concerns. Fraser said the government was particularly concerned about circumstances in which people may be living without adequate access to mental-health services.
The Conservative opposition called for greater transparency from the government. Conservative MP Tamara Jansen said lawmakers did not yet know the precise contents of the legislation Fraser plans to introduce.
The Bloc Québécois welcomed the decision not to expand MAID on the basis of mental illness alone, while also arguing that the government should continue addressing the needs of people experiencing severe suffering. Bloc MP Luc Thériault said the country has a responsibility to people who are suffering and should continue the discussion.
Dying With Dignity Canada, an advocacy organization that supports access to MAID, criticized aspects of the parliamentary committee's work. The organization argued that the committee's process did not adequately hear from people with mental disorders who wanted to explain why they might seek a MAID assessment.
Alongside the decision on mental illness, the federal government is also proposing changes involving advance requests for MAID. Fraser said the government intends to allow people who have decision-making capacity to provide consent for MAID in advance if they have been diagnosed with a condition expected to eventually remove their capacity.
The proposal could affect people with progressive conditions such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Under the proposed approach, a person could make an advance request while still capable of providing informed consent, with the request potentially being acted upon later after the person has lost capacity.
Fraser said the legislation would amend the Criminal Code so that a physician who provides MAID to a person who meets the requirements under an advance request would not face criminal liability for doing so. Further details are expected when the legislation is formally introduced.
The government's decision leaves Canada's MAID framework at a significant point of transition. While the country will continue allowing MAID for people who meet existing eligibility requirements, the planned pathway for people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness will be removed indefinitely if Parliament passes the proposed legislation.
For now, the existing exclusion remains in effect. Canada's Justice and Health ministries are expected to provide further details once the new legislation is tabled in Parliament later this fall.