Report calls for consistency and dedicated resources for MAID

Public health researchers Devidas Menon (left) and Tania Stafinski will study how medical assistance in dying is delivered across Canada by connecting with patients, families and providers about their experiences. (Photo: Supplied)

Canadians’ experience with medical assistance in dying varies greatly depending on where a person lives, their previous awareness of the legislation and the MAID assessors and providers they encounter. 

These are among the findings of the Health Technology and Policy Unit (HTPU) in its final report to the federal government in March 2025: Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): Descriptions of and Experiences with models across Canada. The report offers insights into how — and how well — the legislation is working across the country. 

While the 2016 MAID legislation is federal, each province and territory is responsible for providing the services in their jurisdictions. In 2023, Health Canada funded the two-year project to explore how MAID is being delivered. 

In the 20 years since the HTPU was founded in the School of Public Health, it has built a strong reputation for its methodological expertise, which is why it is often called upon to do this type of work, says health policy professor and study co-lead Devidas Menon. 

The unit’s MAID project included a comprehensive review of academic and non-academic literature as well as interviews with patients and families, provincial and territorial government policymakers, MAID program staff, and physicians and nurse practitioners involved in assessing patients and/or providing medical assistance in dying. 

The final report notes substantial differences across the country in how patients access MAID, how they are assessed and how assistance in dying is provided, says study co-lead and HTPU director Tania Stafinski. 

The report includes recommendations based on feedback from health-care professionals as well as families and patients. Among them: develop national training for health professionals and clear competency standards for assessors and providers; establish dedicated funding and personnel for MAID programs; clarify definitions to create consistency across jurisdictions; ensure equitable access across geographic regions; and provide informational, emotional and bereavement support for families before, during and after the MAID process. 

HTPU is one of three centres in Alberta tasked with advising the provincial government and other health agencies on rapid advances in health technologies, including which should be funded by limited public money. In its 20-year history, the unit has weighed the benefits and costs of insulin pumps, in vitro fertilization, robot-assisted surgeries, high-cost drugs for rare diseases and many more ethical conundrums. 

“It requires a respect for all types of evidence, not just those that come from an academic paper in a traditional clinical sense,” says Stafinski. 

The work involves considering the economic, social, ethical and legal implications of new technology and balancing the interests of patients, families, caregivers, the health-care system and taxpayers, explains Menon. 

“We deal with very complex questions where there is no technical answer,” he says. “How do you balance scientific evidence with values? 

“We have become experts in developing and modifying methodologies to answer these questions.”

Learn more about the important research happening in the School of Public Health in the 2024-25 Research Impact Report »