Bill C-218 seeks to amend Canada’s Criminal Code to prohibit Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) for individuals whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness. It responds to growing concern across medical, legal, and advocacy communities about the risks of expanding MAiD in this direction.
Why This Matters
Mental illness is treatable, and recovery is possible. Yet, current policies allow access to MAiD for severe mental health conditions—a move many experts say is unsafe and discriminatory. Even the government’s expert panel admits it’s “difficult, if not impossible” to determine when a mental illness is irremediable.
Leading psychiatrists, legal experts, disability advocates, and people with lived experience argue that offering death instead of treatment fails the most vulnerable. As Dr. Brian Mishara warns, “People who would have recovered will die.”
What the Bill Proposes
The Right to Recover Act includes three major goals:
- Ban MAiD where mental illness is the only condition
- Reinforce suicide prevention as a national healthcare priority
- Ensure MAiD eligibility is based on evidence-based, verifiable standards
The bill is backed by a broad coalition—including Physicians Together with Vulnerable Canadians, Inclusion Canada, Indigenous Disability Canada, and various faith and cultural groups—who fear the consequences of normalizing assisted death in mental health cases.
Advocates like Dr. Heidi Janz, Prof. Trudo Lemmens, and Dr. Georgia Vrakas (who once struggled with suicidal ideation) stress the need for legislation that champions healing over harm.
A National Choice
Bill C-218 represents more than legal reform—it’s a compassionate movement rooted in dignity, safety, and hope. As suicide survivor and MLA Orlando Da Silva says, this bill is about choosing life, especially for those who can’t yet see it for themselves.
Canada stands at a crossroads: will we offer help or harm? Bill C-218 calls on the nation to uphold the right to recover.
