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An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make related amendments to other Acts (medical assistance in dying) (S.C. 2016, c. 3)

Assented to 2016-06-17

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 241.3:

Marginal note:Filing information — medical practitioner or nurse practitioner
  • 241.31 (1) Unless they are exempted under regulations made under subsection (3), a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who receives a written request for medical assistance in dying must, in accordance with those regulations, provide the information required by those regulations to the recipient designated in those regulations.

  • Marginal note:Filing information — pharmacist

    (2) Unless they are exempted under regulations made under subsection (3), a pharmacist who dispenses a substance in connection with the provision of medical assist­ance in dying must, in accordance with those regulations, provide the information required by those regulations to the recipient designated in those regulations.

  • Marginal note:Regulations

    (3) The Minister of Health must make regulations that he or she considers necessary

    • (a) respecting the provision and collection, for the purpose of monitoring medical assistance in dying, of information relating to requests for, and the provision of, medical assistance in dying, including

      • (i) the information to be provided, at various stages, by medical practitioners or nurse practitioners and by pharmacists, or by a class of any of them,

      • (ii) the form, manner and time in which the information must be provided,

      • (iii) the designation of a person as the recipient of the information, and

      • (iv) the collection of information from coroners and medical examiners;

    • (b) respecting the use of that information, including its analysis and interpretation, its protection and its publication and other disclosure;

    • (c) respecting the disposal of that information; and

    • (d) exempting, on any terms that may be specified, a class of persons from the requirement set out in subsection (1) or (2).

  • Marginal note:Guidelines — information on death certificates

    (3.1) The Minister of Health, after consultation with representatives of the provincial governments responsible for health, must establish guidelines on the information to be included on death certificates in cases where medical assistance in dying has been provided, which may include the way in which to clearly identify medical assist­ance in dying as the manner of death, as well as the illness, disease or disability that prompted the request for medical assistance in dying.

  • Marginal note:Offence and punishment

    (4) A medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who knowingly fails to comply with subsection (1), or a pharmacist who knowingly fails to comply with subsection (2),

    • (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than two years; or

    • (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

  • Marginal note:Offence and punishment

    (5) Everyone who knowingly contravenes the regulations made under subsection (3)

    • (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than two years; or

    • (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

 Subsection 241.4(2) of the Act is amended by striking out “or” at the end of paragraph (b), by adding “or” at the end of paragraph (c) and by adding the following after that paragraph:

  • (d) the provision by a person of information under section 241.31.

 Section 245 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 245(1) and is amended by adding the following after that subsection:

  • Marginal note:Exemption

    (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to

    • (a) a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who provides medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2; and

    • (b) a person who does anything for the purpose of aiding a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to provide medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.2.

  • Marginal note:Definitions

    (3) In subsection (2), medical assistance in dying, medical practitioner and nurse practitioner have the same meanings as in section 241.1.

Related Amendments

R.S., c. P-6Pension Act

  •  (1) The definition improper conduct in subsection 3(1) of the Pension Act is replaced by the following:

    improper conduct

    improper conduct includes wilful disobedience of orders, vicious or criminal conduct and wilful self-inflicted wounding — except if the wound results from the receipt of medical assistance in dying and the requirement set out in paragraph 241.2(3)(a) of the Criminal Code has been met; (mauvaise conduite)

  • (2) Subsection 3(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

    medical assistance in dying

    medical assistance in dying has the same meaning as in section 241.1 of the Criminal Code; (aide médicale à mourir)

  • (3) Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

    • Marginal note:Deeming — medical assistance in dying

      (4) For the purposes of this Act, if a member of the forces receives medical assistance in dying, that member is deemed to have died as a result of the illness, disease or disability for which they were determined to be eligible to receive that assistance, in accordance with paragraph 241.2(3)(a) of the Criminal Code.

1992, c. 20Corrections and Conditional Release Act

 Section 19 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

  • Marginal note:Medical assistance in dying

    (1.1) Subsection (1) does not apply to a death that results from an inmate receiving medical assistance in dying, as defined in section 241.1 of the Criminal Code, in accordance with section 241.2 of that Act.

2005, c. 21Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act

  •  (1) Subsection 2(1) of the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

    medical assistance in dying

    medical assistance in dying has the same meaning as in section 241.1 of the Criminal Code. (aide médicale à mourir)

  • (2) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (5):

    • Marginal note:Interpretation — medical assistance in dying

      (6) For the purposes of this Act, a member or veteran has neither inflicted wilful self-injury nor engaged in improper conduct by reason only that they receive medical as­sistance in dying, if the requirement set out in paragraph 241.2(3)(a) of the Criminal Code has been met.

    • Marginal note:Deeming — medical assistance in dying

      (7) For the purposes of this Act, if a member or a veteran receives medical assistance in dying, that member or veteran is deemed to have died as a result of the illness, disease or disability for which they were determined to be eligible to receive that assistance, in accordance with paragraph 241.2(3)(a) of the Criminal Code.

Independent Review

Marginal note:Mature minors, advance requests and mental illness
  •  (1) The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health must, no later than 180 days after the day on which this Act receives royal assent, initiate one or more independent reviews of issues relating to requests by mature minors for medical assistance in dying, to advance requests and to requests where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition.

  • (2) The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health must, no later than two years after the day on which a review is initiated, cause one or more reports on the review, including any findings or recommendations resulting from it, to be laid before each House of Parliament.

 

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