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In 2023, there were 15,343 medically assisted deaths in Canada. Medical assistance in dying (MAID) became legal in Canada in June 2016, and since then, cases of MAID have increased every year. To be eligible for MAID, one must meet specific criteria and only a medical practitioner can assess for and provide MAID.

How is medical assistance in dying carried out?

In Canada, there are two methods of MAID available. One is clinician-assisted medical assistance in dying, in which a physician or nurse practitioner directly administers a substance to the patient which causes death. The second method is self-administered medical assistance in dying, in which a medical practitioner provides the patient with a drug that they take themselves to cause death. As of 2023, around 64 percent of medically assisted death practitioners in Canada for people whose natural death was reasonably foreseeable were in family medicine, while 12.6 percent were in palliative medicine and 11.6 percent in anaesthesiology.

Why do people choose medical assistance in dying?

One important criterion to be eligible for MAID in Canada is that one must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition. In 2022, around 63 percent of those who received MAID had cancer, while 19 percent suffered from a cardiovascular condition. Furthermore, 96 percent of those who received MAID in 2023 had lost the ability to engage in meaningful activities. The elderly account for the majority of medically assisted deaths in Canada, and in most cases, natural death is reasonably foreseeable.