OTTAWA - The federal government has introduced legislation that would let adults consent in advance to medical assistance in dying, known as MAID, so their wishes could still be respected after an incurable illness takes away their ability to decide for themselves.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser introduced the MAID Safeguards Act, Bill C-41, in Parliament on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, joined by Health Minister Marjorie Michel. MAID is the legal, tightly regulated process under which an eligible adult with a serious and incurable illness and intolerable suffering can receive medical assistance to end their life. It has been legal in Canada since 2016, but today a person must be able to give final consent at the time MAID is provided. The new bill would change that for one group: adults diagnosed with an incurable illness expected to take away their decision-making ability.
What an advance request would do
Under Bill C-41, an adult who receives such a diagnosis could give informed consent in advance, while they can still decide for themselves, and set out the circumstances in which they would want MAID later in their illness. The Justice Department gives the example of a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, who could specify in advance the conditions under which they would want MAID provided later.
An advance request would not make MAID automatic. The government stresses that every eligibility requirement would still have to be met at the time MAID is provided, new safeguards in the bill would have to be followed, and the person would have to be experiencing intolerable suffering at that time, even if all the conditions in their advance request had been met.
“Today, we introduced legislation that would allow adults to consent to medical assistance in dying in advance, so their wishes could be respected if they are diagnosed with an incurable illness that could take away the ability to make this decision,” Fraser said. “We will work with provinces and territories on implementation, with rigorous safeguards to protect people and ensure the decision remains voluntary and free from external pressure.”
B.C. would decide whether advance requests are offered here
Health care is regulated and delivered by the provinces and territories, and the bill leaves the key decision to them: each province and territory would decide whether to make advance requests available in its own jurisdiction. That means advance requests would become an option for Surrey families only if British Columbia chooses to offer them, and the federal government says it will keep working with the provinces and territories on implementation.
In Surrey, health care, including MAID assessments, is delivered through the Fraser Health region, and Surrey Memorial Hospital is where many local families face end-of-life decisions. Dementia diagnoses are rising as Surrey’s population ages, and in many of the city’s South Asian families, care decisions for a parent are made collectively, with adult children closely involved. An advance request is designed for exactly the situation those families describe most: a parent who wants their wishes recorded while they can still state them clearly.
Planned expansion for mental illness will not go ahead
The same bill ends a long-running plan to expand MAID to people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness. The government says serious concerns remain about whether those cases can be assessed safely and consistently, and it is following the recommendation of a special joint committee of senators and MPs, which reported on June 17, 2026 and recommended the exclusion be made indefinite.
“Medical assistance in dying raises deeply personal and complex considerations for individuals, families, and health care providers,” Michel said. “Our approach must respect personal autonomy and individual choice while maintaining robust safeguards for those who may be vulnerable.”
What MAID requires today
Under the current law, an eligible adult must have a serious and incurable illness, be in an advanced and irreversible state of decline, and be experiencing intolerable suffering. Two independent assessments must confirm the requirements are met, consent must be voluntary and informed, and a person can withdraw their request at any time. Where a person’s death is not reasonably foreseeable, additional expertise is required, treatment and supports must be considered, and there is generally at least 90 days between the first assessment and the provision of MAID.
The advance-request change follows a national conversation the government launched in November 2024. Its findings, published in October 2025, showed 67 to 69 per cent of Canadians support advance requests for people diagnosed with a serious or incurable condition that will lead to a loss of decision-making capacity.
What happens next
Bill C-41 has been introduced, not passed. It must still make its way through Parliament before it becomes law, and advance requests would then depend on each province and territory deciding to offer them. The Supreme Court of Canada’s 2015 Carter decision set Canada’s MAID framework in motion, and Parliament passed the first federal MAID law in June 2016. This bill is the next step in that framework, and the debate in the House of Commons will test how far MPs are willing to extend it.
Source: Department of Justice Canada, “Canada moves to allow advance requests for MAID with rigorous safeguards,” October 27, 2026.
