Mature minors
With the appropriate safeguards in place, mature minors should be allowed the right to choose MAID.
The basics
In Canada, you must be 18 years of age or older to apply for medical assistance in dying (MAID). In many jurisdictions across Canada, mature minors already have the right to make important decisions regarding their health care. This includes the right to consent to or refuse lifesaving medical treatment. In the Netherlands, assisted dying for mature minors has been legal since 2002. Between 2002 and 2015, seven minors accessed an assisted death, and the majority had terminal cancer. In Belgium, assisted dying for mature minors has been legal since 2014, and data from 2016 to 2017 showed that a total of three minors received MAID.
When Bill C-14 was passed in 2016, it required a commitment from the Government to study additional complex circumstances in which a person may seek access to MAID – including specifically mature minors. It was the legislative process of Bill C-14 that initiated the discussion around MAID and mature minors; not Dying With Dignity Canada. As an organization, we advocate for assisted dying rules that respect the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Government completed the mandated review, recommendations came through the Committee, the Government responded and identified the need to consult with minors as well as conduct research through Health Canada. Since then, nothing new has progressed on this issue.
MAID for mature minors would be limited to those with a natural death that is reasonably predictable (Track 1), not those with a mental illness or whose deaths were not reasonably foreseeable.
Why it matters
It is unfair to allow a 70-year-old with terminal cancer the choice of a peaceful death but deny a 17-year-old who has been given the same prognosis and demonstrates a clear capacity to make the decision as an adult, the same choice – especially when the 17-year-old already has the legal right to accept or refuse medical treatment that may prolong their life.
71% of people across Canada support the ability for mature minors to request and be considered for MAID, if all other criteria are met under the law.
Get the facts on medical assistance in dying
A considerable amount of misinformation has circulated in the public sphere and media about MAID and mature minors.
Learn more
Pamphlet sparks false claims about medical assistance in dying for minors in Canada
Marissa Birnie of The Canadian Press fact checked claims about MAID for mature minors circulating on social media.
Disinformation that threatens Canadians’ end-of-life rights
The brochure being circulated and falsely attributed to DWDC and/or the Government of Canada was created by The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC), with a clear anti-choice agenda.
2023 poll: Support for medically assisted dying in Canada
The findings of an Ipsos poll regarding support for medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada.
Featured story
Dr. David Amies: Is it right to forbid mature minors access to assisted dying?
Dr. David Amies asks a difficult but necessary question: is it fair to allow an 80-year-old with terminal cancer to access assisted dying but deny a 17-year-old who has the same diagnosis and demonstrates the capacity to make medical decisions as an adult?…
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