Toronto woman seeks MAID exemption as mental illness exclusion remains – CBC
MAID for people suffering only from mental disorders is not yet legal in Canada
May 05, 2026
A Canadian woman who has been fighting for medical assistance in dying (MAID) to be an option for people with mental disorders is now asking the courts to exempt her from current laws so that a doctor can end her life.
For decades, Claire Elyse Brosseau says she has struggled with her mental health, including diagnoses of bipolar 1 disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and disordered eating. Despite wanting the option to die through MAID, Brosseau isn’t eligible under Canada’s MAID legislation because her only underlying conditions are mental illnesses.
In recent years, Brosseau has been part of a legal fight with advocacy organization Dying with Dignity Canada to challenge the federal MAID exclusion for people living with mental disorders.
Outside of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice in Toronto on Monday, Brosseau, alongside her lawyer, said she has filed an urgent exemption because she has lost hope in the fight and is in a state of “unrelenting suffering.”
Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/maid-legislation-mental-illness-9.7187511
