Medical Assistance in Dying

2024 Update

In October 2023, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) was re-established to verify the degree of preparedness attained for a safe and adequate application of MAID where a mental disorder is the sole underlying medical condition.

On January 29, 2024, the committee concluded that Canada is not yet ready to proceed with MAID where a mental disorder is the sole underlying medical condition. The committee outlined the results of its study in its third report titled Maid and Mental Disorders: The Road Ahead.

Following the committee’s report, the Minister of Health, Mark Holland, stated his agreement with the committee and subsequently introduced Bill C-62 which will extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID for persons suffering solely from a mental illness until March 17, 2027.

Quick Facts – Government of Canada

The revised legislation on MAID (former Bill C-7) received Royal Assent and became law on March 17, 2021. The new law expanded eligibility to MAID to individuals whose death is not reasonably foreseeable and strengthened the safeguards for these applicants.
Under the current law, individuals whose sole medical condition is a mental illness, and who otherwise meet all eligibility criteria, will not be eligible for MAID until March 17, 2024. Legislation has been introduced to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID for persons suffering solely from a mental illness until March 17, 2027. This temporary exclusion is intended to provide the Government of Canada time to consider the Expert Panel on MAID and Mental Illness’ conclusions and recommendations, as well as the findings of the parliamentary Special Joint Committee on MAID.
The Government of Canada tabled the Expert Panel on MAID and Mental Illness’ final report in Parliament on May 13, 2022. The report sets out 19 recommendations for establishing a MAID regime that addresses questions that may arise in some MAID requests, particularly where the person requesting MAID is not at risk of dying of natural causes in the near term. This includes questions of incurability, irreversibility, capacity, suicidality, and the impact of structural vulnerabilities (structural vulnerabilities being the effects of interactions between a person's sex, gender, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sexuality, or institutional location, with one's position in society).
The Government of Canada has appointed a Task Group of experts to develop MAID practice standards, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, regulatory bodies, and clinicians across Canada. These standards will be ready for uptake by health professional regulators and clinicians in February 2023. The federal government is also supporting the development of an accredited Canadian MAID curriculum to support clinician education and training.
The Special Joint Committee heard from various expert witnesses, including legal experts, palliative care providers, MAID practitioners, physicians, nurse practitioners, psychiatrists, and the chair of the independent Expert Panel on MAID and Mental Illness. After these engagements they released a third report on January 29, 2024, which provides recommendations to government on next steps.

2023 Update

MAID was introduced in 2016 and became law in 2017. Eligibility for MAID was to be expanded to persons whose sole medical condition is a mental illness. An Expert Panel on MAID Mental Illness was launched to undertake this review with conclusions and recommendations tabled in Parliament on May 13, 2022. This expansion of eligibility was to come into effect on March 17^th, 2023.

Consultations with Canadians raised many complex issues. This includes: “questions of incurability, irreversibility, capacity, suicidality, and the impact of structural vulnerabilities (structural vulnerabilities being the effects of interactions between a person’s sex, gender, socioeconomic status, race/ ethnicity, sexuality, or institutional location, with one’s position in society).”

On December 15, 2022, the Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health announced the Government of Canada’s intention to introduce legislation in early 2023 to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for persons suffering solely from a mental illness beyond March 17, 2023.

A Special Joint Committee has been hearing from various expert witnesses and the chair of the independent Expert Panel on MAID and Mental Illness. The Special Joint Committee’s final report is expected by February 17, 2023.

Finally, there is updated guidance on federal reporting requirements for MAID with respect to the amendments to the Regulations for the Monitoring of MAID. This Guidance replaces the existing web page providing additional guidance for preliminary assessors, medical and nurse practitioners, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians on new MAID reporting requirements that come into effect on January 1, 2023.

On February 2, 2023, the Government of Canada introduced legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID where a person’s sole medical condition is a mental illness until March 17, 2024.

Fact sheet: Bill C-39: Proposed extension of the temporary exclusion of eligibility for persons suffering solely from mental illness (justice.gc.ca)

2021 Update:

New Medical Assistance in Dying legislation was passed on March 17, 2021, which will bring changes to the current rules and regulations, but these will not come into force until early 2023:

Click here to access a one-pager summarizing the changes to MAID
Click here to access the full text of Canada’s new (MAID) law

National Resources

The Fourth annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022 presents data for the 2022 calendar year collected under the 2018 Regulations for the Monitoring of Medical Assistance in Dying. It builds upon the First, Second and Third Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying. With four full years of data collection now complete under the original regulations, results and trends provide even greater insight into the implementation of medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada, as well as a look at the second year of results in cases where the person's natural death was not reasonably foreseeable.
To read the full text of Bill C-14, the legislation that brought about medical assistance in dying, click here.
To read information from the Government of Canada on Medical Assistance in Dying, click here.
To contact a Bioethics Centre near you, click here.
To view video vignettes related to MAiD, click here. **

CASW Resources

As the national professional association, CASW's role extends to advocacy on the federal level for the inclusion and protection of the social work profession in regards to the emerging legislation. CASW is not a regulatory body and does offer practice guidelines specific to MAiD. For specific information, consult your provincial regulatory body.

CASW successfully advocated for the explicit inclusion of social workers for protection in the Criminal Code of Canada on the issue of Medical Assistance in Dying. The Criminal Code now states:

“(5.1) For greater certainty, no social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or other health care professional commits an offence if they provide information to a person on the lawful provision of medical assistance in dying.”

To read CASW's 2018 Position Paper on MAID re: advance requests and mature minors, click here.
To watch a video of CASW's advocacy efforts at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, click here.
To read CASW's Discussion Paper on Medical Assistance in Dying, click here.
To read CASW's 2015 Statement of Principles on Physician-Assisted Dying, click here.
To learn more about Professional Liability Insurance and why you may require it, click here.
To watch CASW's webinar on the topic, click here. Please note that you can still register to watch after the live event.

Provincial Social Work Resources

To view social work guidelines/resources from social work regulatory bodies, see below. Not all provincial regulatory bodies have chosen to comment on MAiD; please note that MAiD now a legal health-care option.

Saskatchewan Association of Social Workers Guidance on Medical Assistance in Dying

Manitoba College of Social Workers Medical Assistance in Dying Information Sheet

Alberta College of Social Workers Medical Assistance in Dying Information Sheet

Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Social Workers -- Medical Assistance in Dying: What Social Workers Need to Know

Ontario College of Social Workers -- Medical Assistance in Dying: Guidance for Members

Nova Scotia College of Social Workers: MAiD from a Regulatory Lens

l’Ordre des travailleurs sociaux et des thérapeutes conjugaux et familiaux du Québec

British Columbia College of Social Workers - Practice Guidance