Inclusion Canada welcomes Alberta Bill 18 and calls for national reform of assisted dying laws

Edmonton, AB - March 18, 2026 – National disability rights organization Inclusion Canada is welcoming legislation introduced today by the Government of Alberta. It aims to protect the lives of persons with disabilities and limit the provision of assisted suicide within the province’s health system.

The proposed legislation would refuse to deliver Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in cases where a person’s natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, limiting the provision of assisted death in Alberta to end-of-life circumstances. The bill also includes measures allowing the province to decline to implement MAiD for individuals whose sole underlying condition is mental illness and for mature minors.

While eligibility for MAiD in Canada is established in the federal Criminal Code, provinces are responsible for the delivery and regulation of health care. If passed, the Alberta legislation would represent a significant step toward protecting the lives and equal dignity of persons with disabilities by ensuring Alberta’s health system does not provide the Track 2 MAiD pathway — assisted suicide for those who are not nearing the end of life.

"Inclusion Canada welcomes the legislation tabled today by the Government of Alberta regarding medical assistance in dying,” said Krista Carr, Chief Executive Officer of Inclusion Canada. “Canada's assisted dying law currently allows people with disabilities who are not at end of life to receive assisted suicide. The United Nations has stated unequivocally that this practice violates the rights of persons with disabilities and should be repealed. We urge the Government of Canada to amend the Criminal Code to repeal Track 2 and remove eligibility for assisted death for people who are not at end of life, and ensure it is never extended to people with mental illness or mature minors."

For years, Inclusion Canada has warned that the expansion of MAiD beyond end of life contexts places people with disabilities at profound risk. Disability poverty, lack of access to supports, inadequate housing, and gaps in health and community services have created conditions where people may feel pressure to seek MAiD not because they wish to die, but because they are unable to live with dignity.

Moira Wilson, President of Inclusion Canada, said Alberta’s legislation should prompt a national conversation about protecting vulnerable people.

“This legislation demonstrates that governments can strengthen laws and better protect people whose lives are not nearing an end,” said Wilson. “We urge the federal government to review Canada’s MAiD law and ensure the same level of protection exists for people with disabilities across the country as for those Canadians without disabilities. We also challenge other provinces and territories to follow suit.”

Fact:
Since the federal government expanded Medical Assistance in Dying with Track 2, 2,050 people have lost their lives between 2021 and 2024. Health Canada's most recent annual report confirms that Track 2 deaths rose 17% in 2024. Every person who receives Track 2 MAiD has, by definition, a grievous and irremediable condition that constitutes a disability under Canadian and international human rights law. People with disabilities are being offered assisted suicide when governments should be providing the necessary economic, health and social supports to lift persons with disabilities out of poverty and isolation. Their suffering is rooted in systemic failures, not in disability itself. With adequate support, persons with disabilities thrive.

About Inclusion Canada
Inclusion Canada is the national federation of 13 provincial/territorial member organizations and over 300 local associations working to advance the full inclusion and human rights of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Inclusion Canada drives social change by strengthening families, defending rights, and transforming communities into places where everyone belongs.

Media Contacts
Andrew Holland, Director of Communications and Marketing, Inclusion Canada aholland@inclusioncanada.ca and (506) 259-1635