Expansion of assisted dying for mental illness in Canada to be delayed until 2024

Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti announced the tabling of a bill on Thursday that will delay by a year an expansion of medically assisted dying (MAiD) to people with mental health disorders as their only underlying condition. Lametti said the delay "will provide time to help provincial and territorial partners and the medical and nursing communities to prepare to deliver MAiD in the circumstances. It will also allow the completion of in-depth studies of the risks and complexities associated with providing MAiD to individuals whose sole underlying condition is mental illness."