June 19, 2026

For immediate release from the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada 

June 17, 2026 

Ottawa, ON – Today, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) tabled a report of its study, recommending that Canada amend the Criminal Code to indefinitely exclude persons whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness from eligibility for MAID.

“ARPA Canada commends the Committee for recognizing that Canada is not ready to expand MAID to the mentally ill,” said ARPA’s Policy Analyst, Daniel Zekveld. “For five years, experts across the country have highlighted the problems with such an expansion, the impossibility of determining irremediability in the case of mental illness, and the importance of emphasizing hope in the face of mental suffering.”

“The Committee’s report falls short of recommending a permanent prohibition on MAID for mental illness, which would recognize the reality that Canada will never be ready for such an expansion,” continued Zekveld. “But an indefinite exclusion acknowledges that Canada might never be ready to provide MAID for mental illness.”

The Committee’s report also follows serious international criticism of MAID in Canada. Dutch psychiatrist Jim Van Os warned the AMAD Committee that psychiatric euthanasia is rapidly taking hold in the Netherlands and would likely expand rapidly if adopted in Canada. In 2025, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities condemned Canada’s MAID regime and recommended against expanding MAID to people with mental illness.

“It’s notable that the Committee tabled its report ten years to the day of Canada first legalizing MAID,” said Zekveld. “Though Canada’s initial euthanasia law was intended as a last resort in cases involving terminal illness, Canada now has one of the highest rates of MAID in the world. Stopping MAID for mental illness would be the first significant slowdown on the otherwise rapid expansion of MAID in Canada over the last ten years.”

While the AMAD Committee’s recommendation focuses on MAID for mental illness, expert testimony from disability rights advocates and medical experts at the Committee highlighted many other problems with Canada’s existing MAID law. “Canadians with mental illness are already receiving MAID if they also have a disability,” said Zekveld. “And vulnerable Canadians are accessing MAID rather than the supports they need to live well despite their suffering.”

Zekveld continued, “The Committee’s work points to the urgency for the federal government to pass legislation to protect Canadians with mental illness. But it also points to the need to care for, not kill, those who are suffering. Ending lives should never be viewed as a solution for suffering.”

– 30 –

For further comment or interviews, please contact Daniel Zekveld at [email protected], or at 1-866-691-2772

The Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada has a long history of involvement with euthanasia laws and policies in Canada. ARPA was granted intervenor standing at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Carter case in 2016. They have also provided a variety of policy reports, research, and analysis on the topic. In 2020, ARPA launched the Care Not Kill campaign, a national grassroots initiative that educates Canadians on the harms of euthanasia and equips them to engage respectfully on this sensitive topic.

Tags:  Email Us