Canada plans indefinite MAiD exclusion for mental illness

The federal government plans to introduce legislation this fall to indefinitely exclude people whose sole medical condition is mental illness from medical assistance in dying (MAiD), Justice Minister Sean Fraser said Wednesday. The planned expansion had been scheduled to take effect in March 2027. The proposed bill would also allow advance requests for MAiD by people diagnosed with a serious illness who later lose the capacity to consent. Provinces would decide whether to offer the option, the government said. The plans have been announced, but the bill has not yet been introduced, and its provisions and passage remain undecided. Fraser cited a lack of consensus in the medical community on when mental illness can be considered irremediable, as well as concerns about access to mental-health care. He said the government considers indefinite exclusion the appropriate approach at this time. A parliamentary committee recommended in June that people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness be excluded indefinitely. Its recommendation was not unanimous: some members called for the question of expansion to be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada.