Government to exclude people who solely suffer from mental illness from medical assistance in dying

The Liberal government says it will table legislation in the fall to indefinitely exclude people who solely suffer from mental illness from medical assistance in dying.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said there is a lack of consensus on whether mental illness is irremediable, and concern around a lack of access to mental health supports.

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The government also says that legislation will decriminalize advance requests for people who are diagnosed with a serious illness, who may lose the capacity to consent to medical assistance in dying in the future.

But it says the provinces will decide whether to provide advance requests.

In Quebec, a person with a serious and incurable illness like Alzheimer’s can already request MAID, months or years before their condition leaves them unable to consent.

This is the first time the federal government has communicated the direction it plans to take on MAID in the wake of a parliamentary committee recommending in June that it should “indefinitely pause” an expansion of the end of life procedure to people with mental disorders.

The government initially put a temporary exclusion in place for people who suffer solely from a mental illness in 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2026.