December 2025

After hearing diverse and deeply personal experiences from community, Disability Alliance BC (DABC) is updating our position on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

We continue to stand firmly with our community in condemning a system that pushes people with disabilities toward MAiD due to inadequate healthcare, lack of accessible housing, financial insecurity, and systemic ableism. No one should feel like death is their only option. That is not a choice—it is abandonment.

What has changed?

While our previous statement called for the repeal of Track 2 under Bill C-7 (available here), our position has evolved. We neither advocate for its removal nor support its continued existence in its current form. Instead, we call for stronger safeguards and an end to preventable deaths caused by social and economic marginalization, discrimination, ableism, and failures in the healthcare system.

Why has it changed?

DABC believes, and advocates for people with disabilities to have the same opportunities and rights as everyone else. They should have real choices about their lives, made with full and accurate information, without being forced into a decision because society has failed to support them.

Our position on MAiD has changed because we recognize that Track 2 has provided relief to some people with disabilities who experience unbearable suffering and see it as an equitable right. While we previously called for its removal, we also acknowledge that banning Track 2 entirely would take away an option that some individuals deeply value.

At the same time, we remain deeply concerned that many people with disabilities are not choosing MAiD freely but feel pushed toward, and we are focused on fighting for stronger safeguards, ensuring that no one seeks MAiD because of unmet needs, and advocating for real supports that allow people with disabilities to live with dignity and true choice.

As this conversation about MAiD continues, we must centre disabled voices and focus on removing barriers that cause inequities for people with disabilities. We aim to build a system that supports dignity, independence, and true choice—not one where death feels like the only choice.

DABC also recognizes the inherent dignity of people in our community who may be contemplating MAiD. Choosing to access MAiD is a deeply personal decision, and anyone who is considering MAiD, and who comes to DABC will be treated with the same compassion and respect as anyone else accessing our services. While we continue our systemic advocacy for safeguards and social change to ensure that accessing MAiD is genuinely a choice, DABC strives to be a safe space for everyone in our community.

While we will not suggest or encourage that someone access MAiD, as we would in any other circumstance, if a client requests information about MAiD, we will refer them to related government information and resources, and, where appropriate, to other supports and services.

What is Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)?

MAiD became legal in Canada in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled that people could choose assisted dying under certain conditions. In 2016, the government passed Bill C-14, which allowed MAiD but only for people whose natural death was expected soon.

Later, in response to legal challenges, Bill C-7 was introduced, which created two groups of people eligible for MAiD: Track 1, for those whose death was expected soon and Track 2, for those whose death was not.

A bill has been introduced in the House of Commons to introduce legislation that would delay the expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (#MAID) ‘s eligibility requirements—particularly for people with mental illness as their only underlying condition— to March 2024. Read the government’s press release here.

We empathize that for people with mental illness who have been wanting to apply for MAID, the possible passing of this bill will come as a huge disappointment. We feel for those who are not currently able to apply for MAiD but wish to do so. We also strongly advocate for comprehensive and holistic supports and safeguards that can provide greater access to necessary treatments and access to services that reduce poverty and increase  quality of life. No one should feel that their only choice is MAiD due to poor societal conditions alone. 

If this bill is passed, we hope that over the course of the next year, actionable work on clarifying eligibility criteria can be informed by the input of those most impacted.

DABC was one of the over 50 disability/human rights organizations that signed on to this letter regarding Medical Assistance in Dying (#MAiD) that was sent to The Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and federal party leaders.