Today, Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF) wrote to all Members of the Parliament of Canada, urging them to adopt the AMAD Committee's recent recommendation to halt the planned expansion of MAID for mental illness in Canada, currently scheduled to take effect on March 17, 2027.
Earlier this year, the AMAD Committee recommended that “the Government of Canada amend the Criminal Code to indefinitely exclude persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness from eligibility for medical assistance in dying”.
CLF’s letter to Members of Parliament follows a submission which CLF made to Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General earlier this summer. Both letters can be viewed below.
CLF’s submission outlines a number of concerns with expanding MAID for mental illness, which human rights experts have warned could perpetuate disadvantage by “portray[ing] death as preferable to a disabled life”, rather than responding to “underlying inequalities”.
“Canadians with mental illness deserve the most accessible and effective life-affirming supports, not a suggestion that the solution to their suffering is to terminate their lives. Any legislative adoption of such a message would be profoundly harmful.”
As an NGO in special consultative status with the United Nations (ECOSOC), CLF highlights these and other concerns expressed by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), particularly in the context of Canadians receiving MAID for suffering associated with systemic ableism and marginalization, which scholars have warned could be exacerbated by expanding MAID for mental illness. The CRPD has already expressed that it is “extremely concerned” about the expansion of MAID in Canada.
CLF remains committed to upholding every person’s inherent right to life, and to advocating for life-affirming supports for Canadians living with mental illness.
To learn more about the work of CLF and to stand with us, see here.
CLF’S SUBMISSIONS
clf letter to the minister of justice and attorney general of canada, july 17, 2026
clf LETTER TO
ALL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, SEPTEMBER 2, 2026
Learn More
CLF’s longstanding advocacy and engagement on Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) regime
Read CLF’s Brief and Background Paper submitted to the AMAD Committee in 2022
Mary J Shariff, Derek B M Ross & Trudo Lemmens, “Mental Illness, Health Care, and Assisted Death: Examining Parameters for Expanding or Restricting MAID under Canada’s Charter and Federal System” (forthcoming in Man L J)
Read CLF Lawyers’ February 2024 Open Letter to Parliament to Halt the Expansion of MAID for Mental Illness
FURTHER READING
Read CLF’s report on the AMAD Committee’s recommendation to Halt to MAID for Mental Illness in Canada
Read CLF’s report on Parliament’s pause on expanding MAID for mental illness to 2027
Read CLF’s November 2023 report and its Follow-up Brief to the AMAD Committee’s Recommendation 13 (to expand MAID MI-SUMC), urging the government to prioritize mental health supports and not euthanasia for mental illness
Read CLF’s Analysis of the AMAD Committee’s February 2023 Final Report on MAID for Mental Illness
The Vulnerable Persons Standard (of which CLF is a supporting organization) 2023 submission to the AMAD Committee
Read CLF’s Analysis of the AMAD Committee’s September 2022 Interim Report on MAID for Mental Illness, and CLF’s report on its Brief (in French and English) and Background Paper submitted to the AMAD Committee in May 2022