Canada is facing international pressure to walk back its expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) and not to expand it further.
In strongly worded concluding remarks, released March 21, 2025, the
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommends Canada repeal the law allowing euthanasia for people who are not dying, known as Track 2 MAiD.
It also recommends Canada stop the expansion of MAiD on the basis of mental illness alone and not allow euthanasia for minors or advance requests for MAiD.
The EFC welcomes these recommendations to repeal Track 2 MAiD and halt further expansion.
The Committee was reviewing Canada’s compliance with the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee stated it is “extremely concerned” with the 2021 expansion of Canada’s euthanasia law to people who aren’t dying, known as Track 2 MAiD.
The remarks described Track 2 MAiD as a fundamental change that:
...establishes medically assisted dying for persons with disabilities based on negative, ableist perceptions of the quality and value of the life of persons with disabilities, including that ‘suffering’ is intrinsic to disability rather than the fact that inequality and discrimination cause and compound ‘suffering’ for persons with disabilities.
It notes that:
The concept of ‘choice’ creates a false dichotomy by setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for the State Party to enable their death.
The
EFC made a submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in January 2025, calling for a repeal of Track 2 MAiD and for expansion of MAiD eligibility to be halted.
The EFC’s brief pointed to the effect of the 2021 law that allowed MAiD for people who weren’t dying, noting that, “With this change in the law, people who weren’t nearing death could be eligible for euthanasia if they had a disability, putting people with disabilities outside of the protections offered to other Canadians.”
As the EFC’s brief stated, “Eligibility for euthanasia on the basis of disability endangers and devalues the lives of disabled Canadians.”
The EFC welcomes the committee’s recommendations and calls on Canada to follow them.