Canada suspends plans to expand assisted dying to people with mental illness

ByNadine Yousif Senior Canada reporter. 7 October 2026, 17: 14 BST.

Key points

• Wednesday's announcement means that Canadians with mental illness as their sole condition will not be able to access assisted dying by March 2027 as previously planned.
• In Canada, backing can be identified at the Suicide Crisis Helpline by dialling 988.
• Medically assisted dying became legal in Canada in 2016 for individuals with terminal illnesses.
• After a court case in Quebec, it was expanded in 2021 to residents with incurable conditions but whose death was not imminent.
• Fraser acknowledged this is an matter that the Supreme Court could weigh on going forward.

Canada notes it will indefinitely suspend aims to expand its medically assisted dying law to individuals whose sole condition is mental illness, citing a lack of consensus on who would be eligible.

It comes after a parliamentary panel earlier this year recommended that medically assisted dying – known as Maid in Canada – should not be expanded.

On Wednesday, Canada's justice minister, Sean Fraser, remarked that "while there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time".

Supporters of extending the programme to those with mental illness alone argue that not doing so violates their constitutional rights and access to healthcare.

Meanwhile, a federal case remains before the courts challenging the government's earlier decision to delay access to Maid for individuals with mental illness.

In practice, the administration will instead introduce a new law in the coming weeks that suspends that expansion indefinitely, Fraser stated.

That proposed legislation will additionally to allow patients who have a progressing incurable illness to consent to assisted dying before their health deteriorates to the point where they are unable to do so. Advanced requests are not at present legal.

"These are not easy decisions but we believe they will be the correct ones, " Fraser remarked.

Medically assisted dying became legal in Canada in 2016 for individuals with terminal illnesses. This person still account for the vast majority of cases.

After a court case in Quebec, it was expanded in 2021 to residents with incurable conditions but whose death was not imminent. In Canada, that mechanism is known as "track two" Maid.

Canada was first set to expand its assisted dying laws to individuals whose sole condition is mental illness in 2023, but it delayed doing so twice to allow for time to study its potential delivery.

Advocates for expanding assisted dying to individuals with mental illness alone say they should have the same rights as patients with other types of illness.

Claire Brosseau, a woman with treatment resistant bipolar 1 disorder who is part of the federal case challenging Canada's current laws, informed the BBC earlier this year that euthanasia would offer her "a safe death".

But reservations have been raised concerning whether mental illnesses are at present understood well enough by medicine to determine appropriate eligibility.

"When I hear that there is a lack of consensus in the medical community about the irremediable nature of certain mental illnesses, that gives me real cause for concern, " Fraser remarked.

Some experts have additionally triggered concern more broadly that Canada's assisted dying programme has become a tool to alleviate the suffering of residents who would be better served by improved access to affordable housing and healthcare, and not an option of last resort.

In a report earlier this year, a parliamentary committee observed competing opinions on the problem but recomended Canada "indefinitely exclude persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness" from assisted dying.

It continued that there is a "pressing need for increased and more equitable access to adequate mental health services".

For context, the conclusions were created after committee members heard from doctors, advocates and experts from countries that do allow assisted dying for residents solely with mental illness, like the Netherlands and Belgium.

Not all committee members agreed with its recommendation, and some published a dissenting report arguing the process was "fundamentally flawed" and "biased".

Polls suggest most of Canadians backing access, external to medically assisted death but that backing falls it comes to patients with mental illness alone.

If you have been affected by any of the problems raised in this story, information and backing can be discovered at the BBC's Action Line.

Taken together, the developments around canada suspends plans to expand assisted dying to people with mental illness point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.