Saskatchewan moves to block advance MAiD requests as Ottawa tries to open the door

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s government is moving to block advance requests for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), even as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government seeks to permit them under Bill C-41.

The Saskatchewan government introduced The Medical Assistance in Dying Additional Safeguards Act on Nov. 9, saying the legislation would prohibit MAiD for people who lack the capacity to make their own health-care decisions. The legislation, introduced by Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, was first mentioned in the province's throne speech on Oct. 27, the same day the federal government introduced Bill C-41 to permit advance requests in provinces with the required legislation. 

Under the federal bill, people diagnosed with an incurable illness who may lose the ability to make health-care decisions could request MAiD in advance, subject to federal safeguards and provincial legislation.

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Saskatchewan's throne speech said the government had “heard from many Saskatchewan residents who believe there needs to be more safeguards placed on the use of MAiD.” Cockrill said the provincial legislation would establish “additional safeguards, particularly around young people, mental illness and capacity.”

It would also prohibit MAiD for anyone under 18 or whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness, and provide additional conscience protections for health-care workers who don't want to participate in euthanasia.

Saskatchewan's move comes as the federal government is advancing its own MAiD safeguards legislation. Bill C-41, the Medical Assistance in Dying Safeguards Act, is now at second reading and would indefinitely exclude people whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness from MAiD eligibility. Without legislative change, the mental illness exclusion is scheduled to expire March 17, 2027.

The federal government has twice postponed the expansion and referred the issue to a special parliamentary committee for study. In June 2026, the committee recommended indefinitely excluding mental illness as a sole underlying condition.

A year earlier, Conservative MP Tamara Jansen (Cloverdale—Langley City) had introduced a private member’s bill to do just that. Bill C-218, The Right to Recover Act, introduced June 20, 2025, would have amended the Criminal Code to ensure that a mental disorder by itself did not qualify as a grievous and irremediable medical condition for MAiD eligibility.

The bill was defeated Oct. 7 by a vote of 187 to 141, with most Liberals and the Bloc Québécois voting against it. Less than a month later, the Liberals introduced Bill C-41 to exclude mental illness as a sole factor qualifying for MAiD, but combined it with the introduction of advance requests.

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Conservatives and other critics are crying foul over the twinning of the two measures, saying they should be considered separately.

In an interview with Canadian Catholic News before the parliamentary debate, Jansen said the MAiD mental illness provision and advance requests are different issues.

“It is incredibly disappointing that they would put these two together, one that has been very well debated, and then something that has not had an actual chance to be debated properly,” she said.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser has said he wants Bill C-41 to pass the House of Commons before the parliamentary sitting ends in December, allowing time for Senate debate before the March deadline when mental illness is scheduled to become a qualifying condition for MAiD.

Conservatives say they could have expedited passage of the mental illness provision alone in time for the March 2027 deadline.

“They could have done it in a separate bill, which is what we asked them to do at the time,” Jansen said.

Instead, critics argue, MPs are being pressured to accept advance requests to ensure that the mental illness exclusion passes before the deadline.

Conservative MP Andrew Lawton challenged the combination of the two measures in Parliament on Oct. 28, asking the Speaker to allow separate votes on them. He said the measures are “fundamentally distinct from one another, with separate political, moral and legal implications, and for that matter, distinct levels of support and opposition among Canadians and, I suspect, Parliamentarians as well.”

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Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia rejected Lawton's request Nov. 3, acknowledging that Bill C-41 addresses more than one issue but ruling that they share the common element of medical assistance in dying. He added that MPs could still seek changes later in the parliamentary process.

On Nov. 4, Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer held a press conference calling on the Liberals to divide the legislation. He said Conservatives would help fast-track the mental illness exclusion while allowing separate study of advance requests.