Eligibility for Medical Assistance in Dying

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) assessors evaluate eligibility per legislative requirements. Eligibility is determined by a MAID assessor and must find the patient meets all of the following criteria:

• Be at least 18 years of age and have decision-making capacity; 
• Be eligible for health services funded by the Federal government, or a province or territory (generally, visitors to Canada are not eligible for medical assistance in dying);
• Make a request for medical assistance in dying which is not the result of outside pressure or influence;
• Give informed consent to receive medical assistance in dying. This means the person has consented to MAID after receiving all the information needed to make a decision. This includes information about:
  • Their medical diagnosis; and
  • Available forms of treatment; and
  • Available options to relieve suffering, including palliative care; and
• Have a grievous and irremediable medical condition, which means a person must meet all of the following conditions:
  • Have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability; and
  • Be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capabilities; and
  • Have enduring and intolerable physical or psychological suffering, caused by either the illness, disease or disability, or by the advanced state of decline in capabilities, that is intolerable to the person and cannot be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable.

• The assessor will also determine whether the patient's death is naturally reasonably foreseeable or not naturally reasonably foreseeable. Depending on the outcome of the assessment, the patient may have a 90-day waiting period before they can schedule a date to have medical assistance in dying.

For the purpose of MAID eligibility, a mental illness on its own is not a qualifying serious and incurable illness, disease or disability.
Canadians whose only medical condition is a mental illness, and who otherwise meet all eligibility criteria, will not be eligible for MAID until March 17, 2027.