Medical assistance in dying: Monitoring and reporting

Find out how and why we monitor and report medical assistance in dying in Canada, and access our annual reports.

On this page

• About
• Annual reports
• Interim reports

About

Monitoring and reporting help us build transparency and public trust in the law. They also help to reflect the seriousness of medical assistance in dying as an exception to the criminal laws that prohibit ending a human life.

Medical assistance in dying regulations require mandatory reporting by:

• physicians
• pharmacists and pharmacy technicians
• nurse practitioners
• health professionals acting as preliminary assessors

According to the law, the Minister of Health must make regulations to collect information for the purpose of monitoring. This includes information about the characteristics of people requesting or receiving medical assistance in dying, if they agree to provide it, such as:

• race
• disability
• Indigenous identity

The Minister must also:

• publish guidelines on what information to include on death certificates in cases of medical assistance in dying
• report to the public on medical assistance in dying in Canada, including on forms of inequality and disadvantage that may be present
• consult with the minister responsible for the status of persons with disabilities when amending the regulations, when appropriate

These public reports can give a clear picture of how the legislation is working and help us to understand its impact.

Learn more about:

• Guidelines for death certificates
• Monitoring system for medical assistance in dying in Canada
• Regulations for the Monitoring of Medical Assistance in Dying

Annual reports

Regulations require that the Minister of Health publish a report at least once a year using the information collected under the federal monitoring system for medical assistance in dying.

The reports provide information on several areas, including:

• who is requesting medical assistance in dying
• why they're requesting medical assistance in dying
• circumstances in which medical assistance in dying is and is not provided

Learn more about:

• First Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada, 2019
• Second Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada, 2020
• Third Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada, 2021
• Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada, 2022
• Fifth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, 2023

Interim reports

Federal, provincial and territorial governments worked together to produce interim reports about medical assistance in dying until the regulations were established in 2018.

• Report #1, issued on: April 26, 2017 (Interim update on medical assistance in dying in Canada June 17 to December 31, 2016)
  • News release -Government of Canada releases first Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying
• Report #2, issued on: October 6, 2017 (2nd Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada)
  • News release - Government of Canada releases second Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying
• Report #3, issued on: June 21, 2018 (3rd Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada)
  • News release - Government of Canada releases third Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying
• Report #4 – issued on: April 25, 2019 (4th Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada)
  • News release – Government of Canada release fourth Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying