Almost half of Canadians who sought medical assistance in dying (MAID) in 2023 whose death was not reasonably foreseeable cited “isolation or loneliness” as part of their eligibility criteria, according to Canada’s annual report on euthanasia.
The Fifth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada found that 21.1 percent of Canadians in the Track 1 category, where their deaths were “reasonably foreseeable,” cited loneliness and isolation as a reason for seeking MAID. For Track 2, that number was 47.1 percent.
The report noted that 96 percent of MAID provisions were for those in Track 1, while the remaining 4 percent were for Track 2. A total of 14,721 Canadians received MAID as part of Track 1 in 2023, versus 622 for Track 2….