Dying With Dignity Canada's response to federal government's flawed Bill C-41, Medical Assistance in Dying Safeguards Act

TORONTO, Oct. 27, 2026 /CNW/ -- The federal government today has tabled the legislation on medical assistance in dying (MAID) that it announced earlier this fall. Sadly, Bill C-41 Medical Assistance in Dying Safeguards Act fails to make changes to the Criminal Code that will improve access to MAID.

Bill C-41 will make changes to the Criminal Code allowing advance requests, where individuals diagnosed with an illness expected to lead to a loss of capacity can specify their consent to receive MAID in the future after they have lost capacity. However, the legislation also requires individual provinces and territories to pass legislation creating a repository or storage system for advance requests, something not required by any other part of Canada's MAID framework.

Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC) has long advocated for advance requests, but the approach the government has announced is fundamentally flawed. By requiring provinces and territories to adopt further legislation before advance requests are allowed in their jurisdiction, the federal government has effectively given each province and territory a veto on advance requests.

At best, Bill C-41 will create a patchwork of systems across the country, thus further increasing inequity in MAID access, instead of a federal framework that would ensure that all people across Canada could have access to advance requests for MAID if they choose and are eligible. At worst, some people in Canada may never has access to advance requests in their province or territory.

The Medical Assistance in Dying Safeguards Act will not guarantee access to advance requests for MAID to anyone who doesn't already have it.

DWDC wrote to the Prime Minister after Bill C-41 was first announced, expressing our concerns with the anticipated approach, and calling on his government to ensure that any advance request framework ensures that every eligible person in Canada who chooses to, is able to access it. DWDC provided several ways this could be accomplished, including the use of a 'substantially similar' clause, or a federal framework that would apply if provinces do not adopt their own legislation. These options were ignored in the Bill.

Dying With Dignity Canada is calling on the federal government to amend this Bill to ensure that every person in Canada who would be eligible, and who chooses to, is able to complete an advance request, regardless of their province or territory of residence.

DWDC is also concerned that the legislation will require a subjective assessment of intolerable suffering before MAID can be provided. Individuals should be allowed to define what they consider to be physical and psychological intolerable suffering, as part of the advance request, and medical practitioners should base their decision on that objective standard. Any other approach risks ignoring an individual's documented wishes.

Dying With Dignity Canada is disappointed that the Medical Assistance in Dying Safeguards Act includes an exclusion from MAID eligibility for persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness.

We believe that preventing a group of people from having access to a legal medical procedure simply because of their diagnosis violates Charter rights. It is stigmatizing and unconstitutional and Dying With Dignity Canada continues to be dismayed in any action that prevents all Canadians from equal access to apply for MAID.

Because of the continued delays in access to MAID eligibility for persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness, in August 2024, Dying With Dignity Canada, Claire Elyse Brosseau, and Dr. Patricia Smith joined together in a court challenge to secure equality in Canada's assisted dying legislation for all.  We remain committed to this court challenge and our ongoing work to remove systemic barriers that prevent equal access to MAID for all people across Canada.

Helen Long, CEO, Dying With Dignity Canada

Please visit the Dying With Dignity Canada media centre for additional information.  www.dyingwithdignity.ca 

About Dying With Dignity Canada

Dying With Dignity Canada is the national human-rights charity committed to improving quality of dying, protecting end-of-life rights, and helping people across Canada avoid unwanted suffering.

SOURCE Dying With Dignity Canada Inc.

Contacts: For media inquiries, please contact: Christy Laverty, Media Specialist, Dying With Dignity Canada, [email protected]