Media release: Inclusion Canada welcomes decision not to expand MAiD for mental illness, urges Parliament to reject advance requests
OTTAWA, ON, October 7, 2026 - Inclusion Canada welcomes today’s announcement by Justice Minister Sean Fraser that medical assistance in dying (MAiD) will stay closed indefinitely to people whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness. Inclusion Canada strongly opposes the government’s plan to also permit advance requests, which would allow MAiD to be given to someone who cannot consent at the time.
The first part of today’s announcement follows the June recommendation of Parliament’s Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying to indefinitely exclude people whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness. Inclusion Canada testified before the committee. It was also one of 90 disability and mental health organizations that called on the Prime Minister and Parliament to halt the expansion.
The government will table legislation this fall. The current exclusion is due to expire on March 17, 2027, so Inclusion Canada urges members of the House of Commons and the Senate to pass the exclusion well before that date.
“This is the right decision, and we thank Minister Fraser for listening to the evidence on mental illness,” said Inclusion Canada President Moira Wilson. “People with mental illness need treatment and support, and today’s decision recognizes that."
Advance requests would allow MAiD without consent at the time.
The second part of the announcement raises serious concerns for Inclusion Canada. The government plans to change the Criminal Code to allow MAiD by advance request. A person could ask, while they still have capacity, to be given MAiD after an illness or cognitive disability takes that capacity away. Provinces would decide whether to allow it. When the time comes, someone else decides that the person has reached the point they once described. The person may not understand what is happening.
In 2020, the Netherlands’ Supreme Court cleared a doctor who ended the life of a 74-year-old woman with dementia under her advance request, even though at times she had indicated that she did not want to die.
“An advance request is written by someone who cannot know what their future will hold,” said Krista Carr, Inclusion Canada CEO. “Consent at the time is the most basic protection a person has. Parliament should not take it away.”
On mental illness, the minister said “a precautionary approach is warranted” where there is no consensus and services are lacking. The same is true of advance requests. There is no consensus on the issue and individuals and families across Canada still struggle to find support.
Studies show that people who do not have a disability consistently rate the quality of life of those who do lower than people with disabilities rate it themselves. Many people say the condition, once it arrived, was not what they had feared. No one can know in advance how they will experience a disability.
The ability to make decisions is not all or nothing. People with an intellectual disability show every day that, with the right support, people can make their own decisions. A person’s will and preferences today should never be overridden by a request written years earlier.
This matters deeply to people with an intellectual disability and their families. People with an intellectual disability have long relied on one firm rule: no one else can consent to MAiD on a person’s behalf. Advance requests move Canada closer to letting someone else decide when a person’s life should end.
Both issues are expected in legislation this fall. They are separate questions and should be decided separately. Inclusion Canada calls on Parliament to pass the mental illness exclusion and reject advance requests. It urges the government to invest instead in home supports and services that help individuals and their families to keep living full lives
The next step is for the government to repeal Track 2. Since 2021, Track 2 has made MAiD available to people who are not dying. Inclusion Canada argues that it singles out people with disabilities and violates their equality rights.
Inclusion Canada, together with three other national disability organizations and two individual applicants, has brought a constitutional challenge to Track 2 MAiD in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, arguing that it violates the Charter rights of people with disabilities. That case continues.
Facts:
From 2021 to 2024, 2,050 people lost their lives to MAiD under Track 2, according to Health Canada. Health Canada has not yet released national figures for 2025.
In 2025, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities called on Canada to repeal Track 2 MAiD, including the planned expansion to people whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness, and not to expand MAiD to advance requests.
If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available. Call or text 9-8-8, Canada’s Suicide Crisis Helpline, at any time.
About Inclusion Canada
Inclusion Canada is the national federation of 13 provincial/territorial member organizations and over 300 local associations working to advance the full inclusion and human rights of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Inclusion Canada drives social change by strengthening families, defending rights, and transforming communities into places where everyone belongs.
Media Contact
Andrew Holland, Director of Communications and Marketing
(506) 259-1635
