Regulations for the Monitoring of Medical Assistance in Dying (SOR/2018-166)

Marginal note:Administering a substance — general

• 8 (1) A practitioner who has received a person’s written request for medical assistance in dying and provides medical assistance in dying by administering a substance to the person must provide the applicable recipient designated under section 2 with the applicable information referred to in Schedules 1, 3 and 6 and the information referred to in Schedule 4 or 4.1, as the case may be, within 30 days after the day on which the person dies.

• Marginal note:Administering a substance — Ontario

  (2) However, a practitioner who has received a person’s written request for medical assistance in dying and provides medical assistance in dying in Ontario by administering a substance to the person must provide the recipient designated under paragraph 2(2)(a) with the applicable information referred to in Schedules 1, 3 and 6 and the information referred to in Schedule 4 or 4.1, as the case may be, within 30 days after the day on which the person dies.

Marginal note:Death — other cause

9 A practitioner who has received a person’s request for medical assistance in dying must, within 30 days after the day on which the practitioner becomes aware that the person died from a cause other than medical assistance in dying, provide the applicable recipient designated under section 2 with the following information:

• (a) the information referred to in Schedule 1;

• (b) in the case where the practitioner has determined that the person met all of the eligibility criteria, the applicable information referred to in Schedule 3;

• (c) if known, the reasons for which the person did not receive medical assistance in dying; and

• (d) the date of the person’s death, if known, and, if the person’s medical certificate of death was completed by the practitioner, the immediate and underlying causes of death as indicated on the certificate.

Marginal note:Cessation of certain requirements

10 A practitioner who has received a person’s request for medical assistance in dying is not required to provide information under a provision of these Regulations — other than subsection 7(1) or (2) or 8(1) or (2), as the case may be — with regard to any circumstances relating to the request that the practitioner becomes aware of, or any actions that the practitioner takes in respect of the request,

• (a) in the case of a person whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable, taking into account all of their medical circumstances, after the 90th day after the day on which the practitioner received the request; and

• (b) in the case of a person whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, taking into account all of their medical circumstances, two years after the day on which the practitioner received the request.

Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians

Marginal note:Dispensing of substance

11 A pharmacist who dispenses a substance in connection with the provision of medical assistance in dying or a pharmacy technician who dispenses a substance to aid a practitioner in providing medical assistance in dying must provide the applicable recipient designated under section 2 with the information referred to in Schedule 7 within 30 days after the day on which they dispense the substance.

Collection of Information

Marginal note:Personal information collected from provinces and territories

• 12 (1) The Minister of Health may, for the purposes of monitoring medical assistance in dying, collect personal information relating to requests for, and the provision of, medical assistance in dying from a provincial or territorial government, or any of its institutions, or from a public body established under an Act of the legislature of a province or territory.

• Marginal note:Other information

  (2) Without restricting the generality of subsection (1), the Minister of Health may, for the same purposes, request that they provide the Minister, on a voluntary basis, with the following information:

  • (a) the number of persons who died as a result of having received medical assistance in dying in the province or territory; and

  • (b) personal information relating to the death of persons who died as a result of having received medical assistance in dying in the province or territory, including

    • (i) copies of medical certificates of death of those persons, and

    • (ii) the findings of any investigations undertaken by the Chief Coroner or Chief Medical Examiner in respect of the deaths of those persons.

Publication of Information

Marginal note:Report

• 13 (1) The Minister of Health must cause to be published, at least once a year, on the website of the Government of Canada a report that is based on information that the Minister obtained under these Regulations.

• Marginal note:Content — period covered by report

  (2) The report must contain information relating to requests for medical assistance in dying received by preliminary assessors or practitioners, and the provision of medical assistance in dying during the period covered by the report, including

  • (a) the number of requests that were made and the results of those requests;

  • (b) the characteristics, including medical characteristics, of persons who have made a request;

  • (c) information respecting the race or Indigenous identity of persons who have made a request, and any disability of those persons, if they consented to providing that information;

  • (d) the nature of the intolerable physical or psychological suffering of persons who received medical assistance in dying;

  • (e) the reasons for which persons who have made a request did not receive medical assistance in dying, including which of the eligibility criteria they did not meet;

  • (f) the places in which medical assistance in dying was provided;

  • (g) time periods relating to the handling of requests for, and the provision of, medical assistance in dying;

  • (h) information as to whether practitioners consulted with other health care professionals or social workers regarding requests;

  • (i) the nature of involvement of practitioners in requests and the provision of medical assistance in dying, including the respective involvement of medical practitioners and nurse practitioners; and

  • (j) information as to whether persons who have made a request consulted with practitioners concerning their health, for a reason other than seeking medical assistance in dying, before practitioners received their requests for medical assistance in dying.

• Marginal note:Other content

  (3) The report must also contain

  • (a) the methodology employed to arrive at any findings set out in the report;

  • (b) information on trends in relation to requests for, and the provision of, medical assistance in dying; and

  • (c) the period covered by the report.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (4) The report must not include any personal information of an individual

  • (a) who provided information under these Regulations; or

  • (b) in respect of whom information was obtained by the Minister of Health under these Regulations.

Other Disclosure

Marginal note:Disclosure to provinces and territories

14 The Minister of Health may disclose to a provincial or territorial government, or any of its institutions, or to a public body established under an Act of the legislature of a province or territory personal information that the Minister obtained under these Regulations if the purpose of the disclosure is to support the monitoring of medical assistance in dying in the province or territory.

Marginal note:Research

15 The Minister of Health may disclose, for the purposes of enabling research or statistical analysis with respect to medical assistance in dying, personal information that the Minister obtained under these Regulations — other than an individual’s name — to any individual or organization if the Minister

• (a) determines that the disclosure is necessary to achieve the objectives of the research or statistical analysis; and

• (b) receives a written undertaking by the individual or organization

  • (i) to use the information only for the purpose for which it was disclosed, and

  • (ii) not to disclose the information in any form that could reasonably be expected to identify the individual to whom it relates.

Marginal note:Disclosure to Minister of Health

• 16 (1) A recipient designated under subsection 2(2) must disclose to the Minister of Health, within 30 days after the day on which a quarter begins, the information — other than the information referred to in paragraphs 2(a) and (g) and 2.1(a) and (d) of Schedule 1 and paragraphs 2(a) and (d) of Schedule 7 — that the recipient obtained under these Regulations in the preceding quarter.

• Marginal note:Definition

  (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), quarter means any period of three consecutive months beginning on January 1, April 1, July 1 or October 1.

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Fourth month after registration

• Footnote ^*17 (1) These Regulations, except section 13, come into force on the first day of the fourth month following the month in which they are registered.

• Marginal note:Section 13

  (2) Section 13 comes into force on the first anniversary of the day on which section 2 of these Regulations comes into force.

• Return to footnote ^*[Note: Regulations, except section 13, in force November 1, 2018; section 13 in force November 1, 2019.]