Canada Blocks Ban on Euthanizing Mentally Ill While Pushing Expansion to Dementia Patients

by Frank Bergman

Canada’s Liberal government has announced it will halt plans to euthanize people suffering solely from mental illness, then immediately voted against a bill that would have banned the practice outright while preparing another expansion of its assisted-death regime.

Justice Minister and Attorney General Sean Fraser announced the reversal at a Parliament Hill press conference amid mounting backlash over Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying program, known as MAID.

But Fraser and his Liberal colleagues subsequently entered the House of Commons and, with just two exceptions, voted against Bill C-218, Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s legislation to prohibit euthanasia when mental illness is the sole underlying condition.

Now, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government plans to combine its promised restriction with legislation allowing advance euthanasia requests from people who later lose the ability to consent.

Liberals Reject Standalone Ban

“Canada has made a decision not to move forward with the expansion that is scheduled in the Criminal Code of medical assistance in dying in circumstances where mental illness is the sole basis,” Fraser told reporters.

“While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time,” Fraser continued.

Following several previous delays, eligibility for people suffering solely from mental illness was scheduled to begin in March 2027.

Fraser said the government intends to maintain the exclusion indefinitely through legislation expected in the coming weeks.

In a social media post, Fraser acknowledged “serious concerns” about whether requests involving mental illness could be assessed “safely and consistently.”

“For that reason, Canada does not intend to move ahead with the scheduled expansion of MAID for mental illness,” Fraser wrote.

Yet the Liberals rejected Jansen’s standalone ban. The New Democratic Party supported it.

The government’s alternative ties protection for mentally ill Canadians to an expansion elsewhere, forcing lawmakers to confront both measures in a single legislative package.

New Push Targets Patients Who Cannot Consent

Fraser also announced plans to permit advance MAID requests from adults diagnosed with conditions such as early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Health Canada defines these as requests made before someone becomes eligible for euthanasia.