Preserving the option of MAiD-free spaces helps maintain Canadians’ trust in the healthcare system

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

19 February, 2026

OTTAWA – Attempts to use the courts to force faith-based healthcare facilities to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide highlight some of the ongoing problems with Canada’s MAiD regime. The British Columbia Supreme Court recently wrapped up hearings on a challenge of provincial rules that respect the constitutional right of St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver to remain a MAiD-free space.

“Preserving the option of MAiD-free spaces is vital to maintaining Canadians’ trust in the healthcare system,” says Rebecca Vachon (PhD), director of the health program at Cardus and author of Disability and MAiD: A Discussion Paper of Public Opinion Polling. “Canadians living with severe disabilities are twice as likely as Canadians without severe disabilities to strongly agree that some healthcare facilities should be MAiD-free spaces.”

The new Cardus discussion paper identifies issues that go beyond the St. Paul’s Hospital court case. One of the most important issues revolves around the inability of people with disabilities to access the healthcare support they need to live.

“Fifty-seven percent of Canadians living with severe disabilities say they experience barriers or discrimination in healthcare, while almost half of healthcare workers say that people with disabilities receive ‘poor’ or ‘terrible’ healthcare in Canada,” says Dr. Vachon. “It is unjust and inexcusable if systemic barriers to healthcare lead people with disabilities to request MAiD because they feel they have no other alternatives.”

The Cardus discussion paper also explores how public support for MAiD may be hollow because Canadians are generally unaware of what constitutes MAiD or who qualifies for it. Many Canadians have the false impression that MAiD is only available for exceptional or last-resort cases. A significant proportion of Canadians also confuse MAiD—which deliberately ends a patient’s life—with the withholding of treatment or with palliative sedation.

Disability and MAiD: A Discussion Paper of Public Opinion Polling examines findings from a fall 2024 poll, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute in partnership with Cardus, and other available data and research, about Canadians’ views on MAiD, including how MAiD affects people with disabilities and influences Canadians’ trust in healthcare. The discussion paper is freely available on the Cardus website.

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Daniel Proussalidis
Cardus – Director of Media & Public Relations
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