Medical assistance in dying: Legislation in Canada

The history of Canada's law on medical assistance in dying (MAID) and how it is changing.

Eligibility for MAID for persons suffering solely from a mental illness has been delayed until March 17, 2027.

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Canada's law on medical assistance in dying

In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Carter v. Canada that parts of the Criminal Code would need to change to satisfy the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The parts that prohibited medical assistance in dying would no longer be valid. The Supreme Court gave the government until June 6, 2016, to create a new law.

In June 2016, Parliament passed federal legislation that allows eligible adults to request medical assistance in dying.

Canada's law on medical assistance in dying legislation has continued to evolve since then.

We're working with provinces, territories and health care professionals to make sure:

appropriate protections are in place
eligible people receive medical assistance in dying in accordance with the law

Carter v. Canada

Updates to legislation

Former Bill C-7

On October 5, 2020, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada introduced former Bill C-7: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying) in Parliament. This bill proposed changes to Canada's law on medical assistance in dying.

These changes were introduced in response to the Superior Court of Québec's 2019 Truchon decision. The decision found 2 areas of the original 2016 law to be unconstitutional:

The "reasonable foreseeability of natural death" eligibility criteria in the Criminal Code
The "end-of-life" criterion from Québec's Act Respecting End-of-Life Care

The changes were also informed by:

Canada's experience with medical assistance in dying
feedback from over 300,000 people during the January and February 2020 consultations, including:
- experts
- practitioners
- stakeholders
- members of the public
- provincial and territorial representatives
the testimony of over 120 expert witnesses heard throughout former Bill C-7's study by the House of Commons and the Senate

On March 17, 2021, changes to the legislation took effect that:

revised eligibility criteria for obtaining MAID and the process of assessment
changed existing safeguards for eligible people whose natural death is considered reasonably foreseeable
expanded the framework for federal data collection and reporting

The revised law also contains new safeguards for eligible people who request medical assistance in dying and whose death is not considered reasonably foreseeable.

Department of Justice: Canada's new medical assistance in dying law

Eligibility of mental illness as a medical condition

On March 9, 2023, legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID for persons suffering solely from a mental illness until March 17, 2024, received Royal Assent. The temporary exclusion was extended to allow more time:

for provinces and territories to prepare
to consider the Special Joint Committee on MAID's review of the legislation on MAID and its application
to develop key resources to help assessors and providers address these more complex requests

On February 29, 2024, legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID for persons suffering solely from a mental illness until March 17, 2027, received Royal Assent. This will allow more time for:

provinces and territories to prepare their health care systems as appropriate
practitioners to participate in training and become familiar with available supports guidelines, and standards

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2024-10-28