Justice Minister Sean Fraser said he will announce a long-awaited decision on the government’s next steps for medical assistance in dying in Canada on Wednesday. It will be the first time the federal government communicates the direction it plans to take on MAID in the wake of a parliamentary committee recommending in June that it should “indefinitely pause” an expansion of the end of life procedure to people with mental disorders. A temporary exclusion has been in place for people who suffer solely from a mental illness since 2021. That exclusion has been repeatedly extended, most recently until March. The federal government revised legislation in 2021 to include people who suffer intolerably with a serious and incurable illness or disability but whose death was not reasonably foreseeable. When MAID legislation was first passed in 2016, it required someone’s death to be reasonably foreseeable in order to qualify. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2026. Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content. Hannah Alberga and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press
