Daniel Zekveld is a Policy Analyst with the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada.Of a recent suite of proposed provincial euthanasia safeguards in Alberta, perhaps the most surprising is the effort to prohibit euthanasia for those who are not nearing their natural death. Alberta is the first jurisdiction in Canada to recognize the problems with providing euthanasia for people with disabilities and to heed the warnings of international bodies and jurisdictions. The federal law, which expanded euthanasia to people whose death is not “reasonably foreseeable,” received Royal Assent on March 17, 2021, five years ago. Rather than defending their existing law through appeal, the federal government expanded euthanasia in response to Truchon, a Quebec case decided by a single judge. Before Bill C-7 (2021) passed, expanding euthanasia to include people with a disability or illness but whose death is not “reasonably foreseeable,” three United Nations experts expressed their concern that this expansion would “have a potentially discriminatory impact on persons with disabilities and older persons who are not at the end of their life or nearing death from natural causes and risk reinforcing (even unintentionally) ableist and ageist assumptions about the value or quality of life.” They also noted that such an expansion might lead to a social assumption that it is better to be dead than to live with a disability. As a result, persons with disabilities may decide to end their lives because of other factors, including loneliness, social isolation, and lack of support. .Indeed, Health Canada’s latest annual report shows that of those accessing euthanasia whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, nearly 45% suffer from isolation or loneliness, and over 50% perceive that they are a burden on family, friends, or caregivers. While there are other sources of suffering involved, data show that non-medical factors can contribute to a request for death and compound other sources of suffering. More recently, in 2025, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities noted that they were “extremely concerned” about Canada’s expansion of MAiD to those whose death is not “reasonably foreseeable.” That Committee critiqued the rapid growth of euthanasia in Canada and called on the government to repeal MAiD for those who are not dying, and to refuse to expand any further to mental illness, mature minors, or advance requests. The Committee cited evidence from the Ontario coroner and data from the federal government showing that euthanasia for those who are not dying is disproportionately accessed by people in marginalized situations. But Canada has largely failed to heed this recommendation. The federal government, rather than narrowing euthanasia, has explored expanding it still further. And unless the government takes action soon, euthanasia remains scheduled to expand to those with mental illness as their only underlying condition on March 17, 2027. .Recently, Kiano Vafaeian, a young Ontario man, was euthanized in British Columbia after being turned down in Ontario. His death was in no way “reasonably foreseeable.” In fact, he had no unmanageable medical condition, but suffered from diabetes and vision loss. His mother rightly called his death a “failure of ethics, accountability, and humanity.” Another man, Roger Foley, is bedridden, with severe pain from his disabilities. He struggles with getting the help he needs to live well and is frequently offered MAiD. But he doesn’t want MAiD and feels devalued and traumatized by such offers. The CEO of Inclusion Canada said in a Parliamentary committee exchange that she hears from Canadians with disabilities every week who were proactively offered MAiD when seeking other services. .Five years after Bill C-7, the number of people being euthanized who are not terminally ill continues to increase, reaching 732 in 2024, up from 224 in 2021. And horrific stories continue to be shared concerning people who ought to have received care and support rather than MAiD. Canada has become a warning to other Western nations about the problems with euthanasia and assisted suicide. For example, problems in Canada impacted debate on assisted suicide in Scotland, where the Scottish Parliament recently defeated a bill to legalize assisted death for terminal illness. Alberta is right to pay attention to these problems and to heed the calls of the United Nations and others to protect Canadians with disabilities from MAiD. The federal government and other provinces should pay attention and also limit euthanasia in their jurisdictions. Daniel Zekveld is a Policy Analyst with the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada.
