Frequently Asked Questions

In June 2016, the Parliament of Canada passed federal legislation that allows eligible Canadian adults to request and receive medical assistance in dying.

In March 2021, the legislation surrounding medical assistance in dying in Canada was revised. The revised legislation creates a two-track approach with different sets of safeguards depending on whether or not a patient’s natural death is reasonably foreseeable.

As of March 17, 2021, patients who wish to receive MAID must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:

1. Be eligible for health services funded by the provincial or federal government.
2. Be at least 18 years old and capable of making decisions about your health.
3. Have made a voluntary request for medical assistance in dying free of any outside pressure or influence.
4. Have given informed consent to receive medical assistance in dying after being made aware of all options available to relieve your suffering, including palliative care.
5. Have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability (not including mental illness*).
6. Be in an advanced state of decline in capability that cannot be reversed.
7. Be suffering unbearably from their illness, disease, disability or state of decline.

* Note: Federal law indicates that Canadians with mental illness as a sole medical condition are NOT currently eligible for MAiD. There are no exceptions to this law – the Manitoba MAiD team must comply with all requirements and safeguards of the Canadian Criminal Code.

There are two types of medical assistance in dying available to Canadians. They each must include a physician or nurse practitioner who:

• directly administers a substance that causes death, such as an injection of a drug
  • this is known as clinician-administered medical assistance in dying

or

• provides or prescribes a drug that the eligible patient takes themselves, in order to bring about their own death
  • this is known as self-administered medical assistance in dying

That information will not be provided publicly. Health-care providers may contact the provincial MAiD team (which has developed a standardized prescription) for further information.

Conversations around suffering and end of life care do not need to change. Consideration by a patient of medical assistance in dying should not alter the treatment options offered and discussed. Please see the Guidance for Health Professionals for additional information.

Health-care providers who wish to participate in the medical assistance in dying process with their patients can work alongside the provincial MAiD team.

Health-care providers are not obligated to provide medical assistance in dying. However, all health-care providers have a professional responsibility to ensure patients have access to medical assistance in dying.

Our goal is to provide care regardless of an individual’s location. We expect all abstaining facilities and any staff who have conscience-based objections to medical assistance in dying to refer patients to the following resources so that they may obtain the information they need to make their decision:

• The provincial MAiD team at: 204-926-1380, or toll free at 1-844-891-1825
• A MAiD information sheet for patients and families
• The Provincial MAiD service webpage: sharedhealthmb.ca/services/maid

All health-care providers are expected to respond compassionately and respectfully. Shared Health has asked that staff have conversations with patients to explore why they want medical assistance in dying and explore all options that may address their suffering. If a patient wants to pursue medical assistance in dying, we ask staff to either share the contact information for the provincial MAiD team with the patient and/or send a referral directly to the team.

No one will be compelled to provide or participate in medical assistance in dying. We do, however, expect that all patients be provided access to resources and information on medical assistance in dying.

Shared Health expects any and all staff who have conscience-based objections to medical assistance in dying to refer patients to the following resources so that they may obtain the information they need to make their decision:

• The provincial MAiD team at: 204-926-1380, or toll free at 1-844-891-1825
• A MAiD information sheet for patients and families
• The Provincial MAiD service web page: sharedhealthmb.ca/services/maid

It is important to remember, health-care providers with conscience-based objections may still explore the reason for a request for medical assistance in dying as it may reveal opportunities to discuss other ways of relieving a patient’s suffering.

All health-care providers interested in providing medical assistance in dying should contact the provincial MAiD team.

In Manitoba, there is a provincial MAiD team comprised of physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists and speech language pathologists. Currently, only the provincial MAiD team may provide medical assistance in dying within regional health authority facilities. The provincial MAiD team is always willing and able to work alongside the patient’s existing health-care team.

Yes. In palliative care, medications and treatments are given to relieve symptoms but the intention is not to cause death. In medical assistance in dying, the medications given are intended to cause death. A patient may receive both palliative care and medical assistance in dying.

Yes, it may be possible for some patients who receive medical assistance in dying to participate in organ and/or tissue donation. This would need to be determined on a case by case basis.

Call 204-926-1380 or 1-844-891-1825.