Requests for medical assistance in dying now accepted in Quebec

A person suffering from a serious and incurable illness leading to incapacity, such as Alzheimer’s, can now make an advanced request for medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Quebec – while they are still able to consent to care and can receive it once they have become incapacitated.

Legislative provisions adopted in June 2023 regarding MAID came into effect on Wednesday.

To make this request, the person must be able to consent to the care and “be able to fully understand their medical situation and the information given, to decide what is best for them and to communicate their wishes well.”

“This request must be made freely, without external pressure. It must also be made in an informed manner, meaning that the person making it knows, among other things, what this care involves, and that other possible care exists,” explains the Quebec government on its website.

Advanced requests must meet several criteria that were already in place for traditional requests.

The person must, among other things, be of legal age and be suffering from an advanced and irreversible decline in their capacities. They must also experience “persistent, unbearable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be alleviated in conditions deemed tolerable.”

A person who wishes to submit a request must speak to a health professional. Doctors and specialized nurse practitioners are the only professionals authorized to provide this care in Quebec.

For advance requests, there is no set time between the request and the MAID administration. It can take months or even years between the request and the time they receive the care.

Not waiting for the federal government

Quebec moved forward with authorizing advance requests for medical assistance in dying without waiting for Ottawa to amend its Criminal Code to allow them, which has not been done yet.

Earlier this week, Federal Health Minister Mark Holland confirmed that the Trudeau government will not launch any legal action to challenge Quebec’s law that allows advance requests.

He said that under the Criminal Code as it is currently written, administering medical assistance in dying in advance “is not legal,” but he agreed that the administration of justice is a provincial responsibility.

Quebec prosecutors have been instructed not to file criminal charges in connection with a death that occurred in the context of MAID if the evidence shows that it was provided in accordance with wishes expressed freely and in an informed manner.

The Collège des médecins du Québec (CMQ), which is in favour of advance requests for people diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease who could not consent to medical assistance in dying later noted that Ottawa is dragging its feet in amending the Criminal Code.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews