Two-fifths of Canadians who have encountered difficulties with accessing mental health services support allowing those with mental illnesses to access medical assistance in dying (MAiD), according to a poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) in partnership with Cardus. .Two-thirds of struggling Canadians support letting those with terminal illnesses have MAiD, according to the poll. The ARI said 64% of them are in favour of those with disabilities affecting their quality of life to access it. .It found four-fifths of Canadians are concerned with mental health resources available in the country, and another 81% are worried about the state of its mental health overall. .This concern is more elevated among those who have sought care from the Canadian mental healthcare system in the previous year. One-fifth of Canadians said they have looked for treatment for a mental illness from a professional in the past year. .In that group, two-fifths said they have faced barriers to receive the treatment they wanted. These obstacles appear to be more of an issue for women (45%) and young people (51%). .With this in the background, the Canadian government is continuing deliberations on expanding eligibility for MAiD for those whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness. The ARI said majorities of Canadians support the previous rules governing MAiD, which first included terminal illnesses (64%) and was updated for disabilities (60%). .It acknowledged there is more hesitation when it comes to this next step. Three-tenths admitted they support allowing those whose sole condition is mental illness to seek MAiD, and half are opposed to it. .The ARI went on to say people who encountered barriers to receiving mental healthcare are more likely to be lower-income households (36%) than those who had easy access (24%). .When asked to describe their recent mood, Canadians are most likely to select fatigued (47%), normal (41%), and anxious (38%). One-quarter said they have been happy over the last few weeks. .Majorities of those who faced difficult access to care (60%) and easy access (83%) said the treatment they had was of help. .The Canadian government introduced Bill C-39 in February, delaying the expansion of MAiD to Canadians whose sole underlying condition is a mental disorder..READ MORE: Cabinet introduces bill to delay expanding MAiD.“The safety of Canadians must come first, which is why we are taking additional time to get this right,” said former justice minister and attorney general David Lametti. .Under Canada's current MAiD law, anyone suffering from a mental illness who met all eligibility criteria would have been eligible beginning in March. But the legislation introduced by Lametti, former health minister Jean-Yves Duclos and former mental health and addictions minister Carolyn Bennett will extend the temporary exclusion period until March 17, 2024..The poll was conducted online from September 19 to 22 among a representative randomized sample of 1,872 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. It has a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
