MAiD for Mental Illness in Canada

"I and other colleagues are experiencing this: People are clearly getting MAID [Medical Assistance in Dying] for reasons that are frankly illegal."

"Suicide contagion is a well-proven reality. Don't pretend that it won't happen in Canada.:

"For the last 23 years, I've treated patients that other psychiatrists told me could not get better, and they get better."

"Suffering can always be reduced ... There is absolutely no such thing as 'everything has been tried'."

Dr. John Maher, psychiatrist specializing in treating severe mental illness 

Angus Reid Institute

 

"Under the guise of flimsy medical excuses", people suffering mental illnesses are already receiving assisted deaths in Canada, and others seeking MAID will "doctor-shop until dead" should euthanasia be extended under law to encompass psychiatric suffering alone, cautioned Dr. John Maher testifying before a Parliamentary committee of enquiry comprised of MPs and Senators. Should medical assistance in dying be seen as a legitimate option for mental suffering, he warned, the risk of a "suicide contagion" effect is high.

 

It's called the Werther Effect, referring to a notable increase in suicides following publicized reports of suicides among celebrities. In jurisdictions that have legalized doctor-assisted death, Dr. Maher pointed out, rates of suicide "have risen much faster after it was legalized, than before." 

 

Conflicting reports pro and con have been presented to the committee over the safety of MAID eligibility expansion to individuals having mental illness in isolation from any other medical conditions; a controversial topic that includes whether or how a mental disorder might be considered to be incurable and thus qualifying for MAID.  

"People are getting MAID for psychiatric reasons  under the guise of flimsy medical excuses."

"Prolific MAID providers are happy to assist with suicide while people are on wait-lists for effective treatment, [and] MAID is being offered to veterans, disabled people and people with very treatable illnesses." 

"People need lifeguards, not someone to push you under."

Dr. John Maher  

In 2023, urgent requests for same-day assessments and provision [less than 24 hours] were reported in Ontario, speaking to the possibility of impulsive decision-making on the part of people with mental disorders willing and determined to end their lives, under the influence of their mental delirium. This, in a background of long wait times for appointments with mental-health professionals in Canada's overworked health care system. 

 

"You're describing criminal misconduct, are you not, when you describe mental health as already qualifying people in the eyes of some assessors and providers for MAID?", asked one of the Members of Parliament on the committee. "I absolutely am", responded Dr. Maher. He informed the committee of his attempts to report his concerns with a doctor, to a provincial professional accreditation college and the response was "until the patient is dead, there is no malpractice".

 

And then, there were the counterarguments, as when University of Ottawa law professor Daphne Gilbert spoke of a small "very limited" number of people ultimately qualifying for MAID solely for mental illness. "This matters, because one justification for continued exclusion is the speculative claim that large numbers of people will become eligible if the ban is lifted. There is no evidence to support that claim." 

"[Denying MAID to those with mental illness is predicated on the belief that they lack decision-making capacity and] must be protected from themselves and that their suffering is somehow less real, or less serious."

"In 2026, we are reinforcing historic stigma and paternalistic assumptions. The law continues to infantilize those with mental illness."

Professor Daphne Gilbert, vice-chair, Dying with Dignity Canada