Help Defend the Lives and Rights of Canadians with Disabilities - Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying Has Gone Too Far
The MAiD Challenge
People with disabilities who are struggling with poverty, isolation, inadequate housing, lack of supports, or barriers to healthcare should be offered help, hope, and community, not assisted suicide.
We believe every life has value. We believe people with disabilities deserve the supports they need to live with dignity. And we believe Canada must do better.
The government has decided not to reverse course. That is why our coalition has taken court action to fight this discrimination. This phase of our fight takes resources - time and money.
We launched The Challenge - a $1 million campaign to support this critical legal action and build a national movement for change.
Every donation, every dollar, counts and helps us move forward and gives us the ability to defend the equality rights of people with disabilities living in Canada.
We need your help!
The legal fight is underway. The need is urgent. We cannot do this without you.
The Background
In 2016 the federal government, as required by the Supreme Court of Canada, established medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for people who were terminally ill and near the end of their lives. This is now called Track 1 MAiD.
However, in 2021, without any Supreme Court requirement, the government expanded MAiD to Canadians with disabilities who were not dying, terminally ill or near death – this is really medical assistance in committing suicide. This is Track 2 MAiD.
Assisted suicide is only available to people with disabilities and no one else. For everyone else we will do all we possibly can to prevent suicide, to prevent a terrible and tragic loss of life for the individual, their family and friends. We recognize their suffering is a call to action, to save their lives, not help end it.
Rather than ensure people with disabilities in Canada had access to the supports they need to thrive, such as affordable and accessible housing, employment and decent incomes, and personal assistance, they offered death to those struggling to live. The message and threat are clear – you are not valued, your life doesn’t count.
We refused to accept this as Canada's answer. In response, we launched a court case to repeal Track 2 MAiD. Pursuing justice through the courts costs money. That's why we launched The Challenge, a $1 million campaign to fund this critical legal action and build a national movement for change.
The Charter Challenge has been launched by our coalition. It is a broad coalition that represents organizations fighting for people with physical disabilities, people with intellectual disabilities, and other intersections of disabilities such as Indigenous people, women and girls with diverse identities. The coalition includes human rights organizations the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), DAWN Canada, Inclusion Canada, and Indigenous Disability Canada (IDC/BCANDS), as well as two individuals who have been harmed by Track 2 MAiD.
Our Coalition is seeking your support in challenging Track 2 MAiD. We believe in a Canada where the lives of persons with disabilities are of equal value and where support for persons with disabilities must be readily available.
Understanding the Difference Between
Track 1 and Track 2
Many people in Canada are unaware that there are two different MAiD pathways. Understanding the difference is critical.
So, what is the difference?
2016 – The federal government, in response to a Supreme Court of Canada Decision, amended the Criminal Code to allow Medical Assistance in Dying for individuals whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable. This is known as Track 1 MAiD.
For example, a person living with advanced stage 4 cancer may qualify under Track 1.
The Coalition is not challenging Track 1 MAiD.
2021- The federal government created a separate pathway, known as Track 2 MAiD, for people whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable if they have a disability or a chronic health condition that leads to a disability and they feel they are suffering.
It is the first time in Canadian history the federal government has refused to challenge a lower court's decision and not ask the Supreme Court to rule on a Quebec court's decision to expand MAiD. They just accepted it.
Many people living with a disability in Canada face significant and sustained hardships, including poverty, social isolation, inadequate housing, long wait lists for supports, and barriers to healthcare that create feelings of suffering and hopelessness. Access to essential supports may involve lengthy wait times, if they’re available at all.
Instead of ensuring people with disabilities have access to the supports and resources they require, instead of taking action to prevent suicides, Canada has chosen to offer people with disabilities quick access to medical assistance in committing suicide.
We think it’s time for Canada to make a different choice – to respect the lives of people living with disabilities by acknowledging their equal worth and in providing them with ready access to the supports and resources they require.
Our position is supported by hundreds of organizations representing people with disabilities living in Canada and by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that has called on Canada to end Track 2 MAiD.
Read the report here
Coalition in Action
Read Charter Challenge Press Release Here
Disability rights groups launch Charter challenge against MAID law
Assisted suicide lawsuit uses Charter challenge to go after Charter right to MAID
Health Matters: Disability rights coalition speaks out against MAiD laws
Videos of National Appearances
Heather Walkus, National Chairperson with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities.
Bonnie Brayton - Chief Executive Officer of DAWN Canada
Neil Belanger, CEO of Indigenous Disability Canada
Krista Carr, Inclusion Canada’s CEO, addressing the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying in the Parliament of Canada (AMAD)
Previous year AMAD address can be found here:
Videos of International Appearances
Inclusion Canada president Moira Wilson addresses the United Nations in May 2026.
MAiD Infographic
Medical assistance in dying is a complicated subject.
This infographic explains how changes to MAiD can negatively impact people with a disability in Canada.
The Challenge Campaign Booklet
We have created a booklet aimed to give you other ways you can help continue the important discussion in your community. Read it here.
Facts
Track 1 | Track 2 |
Person is at end of life | Person is NOT dying |
Eligibility: Terminal illness | Eligibility: Disability |
End-of-life care | Social suffering / support gaps |
The Coalition is not challenging | The Coalition is challenging |
Support The Challenge
to End Track 2 MAiD
Every Canadian Has a Stake in This Fight
None of us knows what tomorrow will bring. A serious accident, illness, mental health crisis, or disability can change a life in an instant. The rights and protections we defend today may one day protect you or someone you love.
The Coalition is part of a Charter challenge before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to repeal Track 2 MAiD and defend the equality rights of people with disabilities across Canada under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
This is about more than a court case.
It is about the kind of country we want Canada to be.
People with disabilities who are struggling with poverty, isolation, inadequate housing, lack of supports, or barriers to healthcare should be offered help, hope, and community, not assisted suicide.
We believe every life has value. We believe people with disabilities deserve the supports they need to live with dignity. And we believe Canada must do better.
That is why we launched The Challenge - a $1 million campaign to support this critical legal action and build a national movement for change.
The legal fight is underway. The need is urgent. We cannot do this without you.
Your Support, Your Donation, Creates Change
The Challenge to end Track 2 MAiD supports the legal action, the Charter challenge, we’ve undertaken to repeal Track 2 MAiD. Everyone knows pursuing justice through the courts costs money.
We’re asking you to please support our legal efforts to save and support the lives of people living with a disability in Canada. Please Donate.
Other Ways You Can Help Today
Start a peer-to-peer fundraiser and invite your friends, family, and community to join the movement. Its very easy.
Click here to get started:
Tell your Member of Parliament and Senator(s) from your province/territory that Canada must repeal Track 2 MAiD and invest in the supports people with disabilities need to live with dignity.
Download a template:
The Choice Before Canada
Canadians can choose a different path, one rooted in inclusion, equality, dignity, human rights, and meaningful support. People with disabilities deserve the same protection, hope, and opportunity as every other Canadian