Ottawa indefinitely halts MAID expansion for mental illness, adds advance consent rules
Canada's Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced on October 7 that the federal government will indefinitely suspend plans to extend medically assisted dying (MAID) to individuals whose sole condition is a mental illness. The decision reverses a previous timeline that targeted March 2027 for this expansion. Fraser cited a lack of medical consensus on eligibility criteria and concerns regarding inadequate mental health services as primary reasons for the halt. While the government will introduce new legislation to formalize this exclusion, it will simultaneously allow for advance consent for patients with incurable physical illnesses who may lose decision-making capacity. The move follows a parliamentary committee recommendation to 'indefinitely exclude' such patients, though it faces criticism from advocacy groups and a pending Supreme Court challenge.