Quebec had the most MAID deaths in 2022, followed by Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, according to the data.
The number of medically assisted deaths in Canada increased by 31.2 percent in 2022, with the latest report revealing the procedure accounted for 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country last year.
The Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada 2022, released on Oct. 24, found there were 13,241 MAID deaths that year, with all provinces and territories except Manitoba and the Yukon experiencing year-over-year growth. When broken down by province, Quebec had the most MAID deaths in 2022, at 4,801, followed by Ontario (3,934), British Columbia (2,515), and Alberta (836.) In Quebec, MAID deaths accounted for 6.6 percent of all deaths in that province in 2022.
Last year there were 463 cases—3.5 percent of the total MAID deaths in 2022—where the person’s natural death was not reasonably foreseeable, the report said.
Of the 16,104 written requests for MAID in 2022, 3,002 did not end in assisted death, as 2,144 individuals died before they could receive the procedure, 560 were deemed ineligible, and 298 withdrew their requests.
MAID Expansion
MAID numbers are expected to grow further in the coming years, as Ottawa is making it legal for those whose only medical condition is mental illness to end their lives through the procedure, beginning on March 17, 2024.That’s when a one-year delay on expanding MAID to include those suffering solely from mental illness comes to an end.
In February 2023, then-justice minister David Lametti said the delay would give more time for clinicians and other health system partners to prepare, as well as provide more time to consider the parliamentary Special Joint Committee on MAID’s interim and final reports.
The MAID report comes less than a week after
Bill C-314, which would have amended Canada’s Criminal Code to state that a mental disorder “is not a grievous and irremediable medical condition for which a person could receive medical assistance in dying,”
failed in the House of Commons by a 150–167 vote.
Conservative MP Ed Fast, who sponsored the bill, said that it would have reversed the “terrible decision” to expand MAID to those with mental illnesses while not repealing other provisions of Canada’s assisted dying laws.
“The question is this: Should Canadians be able to trust their government to act in a way that values the life of every Canadian, or do we give up on the most vulnerable among us,” he asked.
Health Minister Mark Holland said in the Oct. 24 report that MAID is a “complex and deeply personal issue,” and that the federal government is committed to ensuring its laws “reflect Canadians’ needs, protect those who may be vulnerable, and support their autonomy and freedom of choice.”
History of MAID in Canada
Canada’s experience with MAID began in 2016, when
Parliament passed legislation allowing eligible adults to request the procedure. The legislation was introduced the previous year in order to bring the Criminal Code into compliance with a Supreme Court of Canada ruling. At that point, MAID applied only to the terminally ill.
Then in March 2021, Parliament passed
Bill C-7, which amended the Criminal Code to allow MAID for Canadians whose natural death is not “reasonably foreseeable.” The bill included a requirement for several conditions to be put in place, such as a minimum 90-day assessment period, a second eligibility assessment by a practitioner with expertise in the condition causing the person’s suffering, and two clarifications of informed consent.
The passage of Bill C-7 also temporarily pushed the expansion of MAID for cases only involving mental illness to March 2023, later postponed for a year
through Bill C-39.
A Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) investigation showed that initially a veteran filed a complaint on July 21, 2022, saying that he was offered MAID by a department case worker after he asked for treatment help for a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress.
In December 2022, CAF veteran and former paralympian Christine Gauthier, who had been trying to get a wheelchair ramp installed in her home for the past five years,
told a parliamentary committee that she was offered the procedure by a VAC employee.
By December 2022, six veterans had come forward alleging they were offered the procedure when they asked for help.
The VAC said that the issue was limited to “one single employee” and that the employee was no longer working as a case manager with veterans.
A number of other individuals have also decided to resort to MAID in Canada after failing to get support for their disability.
In October 2022, a 54-year-old man from St. Catharines living with chronic pain due to a back injury years ago said he had applied for MAID because social supports were failing him and he feared becoming homeless more than dying. He eventually changed his decision after public support.
In December 2022, CBC News also reported that a woman was considering MAID due to the pain of living with fibromyalgia but said she might not have contemplated the procedure if her disability benefit hadn’t left her struggling financially.
