Canada to exclude mental illness as sole reason for assisted dying

Canada will exclude mental illness as the sole qualifying condition for assisted dying, Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced on Wednesday, indefinitely suspending an expansion that had been due to take effect on 17 March 2027.

Fraser said the government would introduce legislation this autumn formally taking the expansion off the table, months after a parliamentary committee made a similar recommendation. The mental-illness expansion had already been delayed twice.

“While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach,” Fraser told reporters.

He said he did not anticipate further restrictions to Canada’s assisted-dying regime, which is among the world’s most permissive. The bill will also cover advance requests, letting people with conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s consent to assisted dying in advance, in case they later lose capacity. It will amend the Criminal Code so doctors who comply with the criteria cannot be prosecuted, and limit assisted dying to provinces that legislate access for people with “incurable illnesses” experiencing “intolerable suffering” under rigorous safeguards.

Advocacy group Dying with Dignity has described the exclusion as a violation of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is involved in multiple lawsuits against the government. A separate federal court challenge over the earlier delay of the expansion remains active.