Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
The process where a person can receive assistance from a medical practitioner to end their life.
Assisted dying can take place in two forms:
Euthanasia: the process where a medical professional takes the action that leads to the unnatural death, most commonly a lethal injection
Assisted suicide: the process where the person is prescribed a lethal drug that must be self-administered.
Both forms are legal in Canada.
Full overview of Medical Assistance in Dying from the Government of Canada
Euthanasia in Canada
Canada legalized euthanasia in
June 2016.
Reality
Check:
Euthanasia is considered part of Canada’s Health Care
As of 2022, nearly 45,000 people have died from MAID since it was legalized in 2016
Cancer (63%) is the most common underlying condition
Canada is 1 of 9 countries that has legalized euthanasia.
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in an additional 2 countries, and 11 states in the USA
The average age of those who obtained euthanasia in 2022 was 77
Quebec’s euthanasia law does not require physicians to report euthanasia on death certificates
In 2021, Parliament expanded the eligibility of euthanasia to patients with disabilities
A brief history of euthanasia legalization in Canada
In February 2015, the Supreme Court voted unanimously (9–0) to allow physician-assisted suicide under specific conditions and instructed Parliament to craft a new law within 12 months. Both Conservative and Liberal governments failed to do this, so in June 2016, euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicide, became legal with no new law to govern it.
Bill C-14, The Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) Act, was approved later that month and became law in June 2016. It outlined eligibility criteria and provided safeguards to protect vulnerable people from abuse of the law, as well as a commitment to review in 5 years.
MAID requires a doctor or nurse practitioner to confirm an applicant meets the eligibility criteria. Some key criteria:
the request is voluntary and not the result of external pressure
informed consent: information on options to relieve suffering is shared
must have a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” that causes “enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable” to them
must be in an “advanced state of irreversible decline,” in which their “natural death has become reasonably foreseeable.”
By the end of 2019 there were 13,946 reported deaths by euthanasia across Canada (see chart below).
Before the 5 year review of the law was held, Bill C-7 was introduced. It became law in March 2021.
Bill C-7 aimed at expanding access to MAID and reducing some of the eligibility and procedural safeguards:
natural death no longer needs to be “reasonably foreseeable.” This includes people with disabilities or chronic but not fatal illnesses.
the 10 day waiting period was removed for those whose death is “reasonably foreseeable.” This makes it possible to apply and receive euthanasia on the same day. For those whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, the waiting period is 90 days.
allows for advanced directives, making it possible for a medical practitioner to proceed with euthanasia after a patient is no longer able to give consent.
permits euthanasia for reasons of mental illness alone, beginning in 2023.
MAiD legislation related to mental illness was postponed to March 2024.
postponed again on Feb 29, 2024 to March 17, 2027
Full legal history of Euthanasia in Canada: The Canadian Encyclopedia
Reporting & Data
The latest Government produced report on MAID in Canada was released in 2023.
The latest Ontario data comes from the Office of the Chief Coroner MAiD Stats Report as of Dec. 2022. It states that since MAiD began in 2016, there have been 679 MAiD deaths in Halton Region.
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition provides further breakdown of the numbers with a focus on Ontario in their blog here.
Hover over the graph elements below to see exact numbers.
Death by Euthanasia in Ontario and Canada
Euthanasia by Age
Nature of Suffering
Euthanasia by Main Condition
Nature of suffering of those who received MAID in 2022. Providers were able to select more than one reason; therefore, total exceeds 100%
“MAID accepts that some people are better off dead”
- Wesley J. Smith
“There is no protocol in place to demonstrate that persons with disabilities have been provided with viable alternatives when eligible for assisted dying. I have further received worrisome claims about persons with disabilities in institutions being pressured to seek medical assistance in dying, and practitioners not formally reporting cases involving persons with disabilities.”
- UN Report 2019 Ms. Devandas-Aguilar
"International evidence shows that one of the top five reasons that people request euthanasia or assisted dying is precisely because they feel like a burden on their families.”
- Paula Tesoriero, NZ Disability Commissioner
“In under five years, Canada has reneged on the compromise reached to limit MAID to those at the end of life. It will now extend MAID to those with mental illness with almost no legislative study or debate. All this has happened during a global pandemic, when people with disabilities are fighting to stay alive.”
- Toronto Star, March 11, 2021