Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program is set to expand in 2027 to include individuals whose sole underlying condition is “mental illness.“

Disturbingly, the Canadian state has adopted an increasingly broad and subjective definition of what constitutes mental illness—raising red flags about who the state could put to death under the expanded MAiD regime.

Even more alarming are recent signals from within Mark Carney’s government and academic circles pushing for the inclusion of so-called “conspiracy theorists” under the mental illness umbrella. This trend risks pathologizing dissent and alternative thinking, framing ideological nonconformity as a clinical condition.

If left unchecked, it opens the door to state overreach, where labeling someone as mentally ill could become a tool not just for medical intervention, but for silencing or eliminating voices deemed inconvenient.

The MAiD expansion has been delayed multiple times, with the current eligibility date set for March 17, 2027. This postponement reflects concerns about the health care system’s readiness to handle such cases safely and ethically. 

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has expressed apprehension, citing a lack of clinical guidelines and resources to assess and provide MAiD for individuals with mental illness.

Once touted as a last resort for the terminally ill, MAiD has quietly morphed into one of the most permissive euthanasia regimes in the world.

The planned inclusion of mental illness raises deep ethical concerns. Who decides when a person’s suffering is “irredeemable”? In a country where psychiatric care is underfunded, some fear the state is offering death as a cheaper alternative to therapy and long-term support.

Critics argue this policy sends a dangerous message: that if you’re struggling, if your pain is invisible, you might be better off dead—and the government is happy to help make that happen. For those with chronic depression, PTSD, or schizophrenia, hope must not be replaced by a needle.