Dying With Dignity Canada

Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC) is the national human-rights charity committed to improving quality of dying, protecting end-of-life rights, and helping people across Canada avoid unwanted suffering. It works through advocacy, education, and support: advocating for assisted dying rules that respect the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; educating people across Canada about all their legal end-of-life options, including medical assistance in dying (MAID), and the importance of Advance Care Planning; providing support to adults suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition who wish to die on their own terms; and supporting health care practitioners who assess for and provide MAID. Its mission is ensuring access to quality end-of-life choice and care through advocacy, education, and support, and its vision is that everyone can choose their good death.

Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC) states that it has been defending access to quality end-of-life choice and care for over 40 years, and its About Us page states it has been protecting end-of-life rights since 1980. Its history page describes a long and winding road to choice, full of challenges and setbacks, progress and triumphs, and attributes who the organization is today to years of persistent and passionate advocacy by pioneers from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The history timeline includes 2024 entries: on February 13, e-petition 4726 closed with 16,466 signatures in support of (as described in the snippet); on February 29, legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID where a person's sole medical condition is a mental disorder until March 2027 (Bill C-62) received Royal Assent; on June 17, a court challenge to end forced transfers for medical assistance in dying was filed in British Columbia, with plaintiffs including Gaye O'Neill, Dr. Jyothi Jayaraman and Dying With Dignity Canada; on August 19, a court challenge to end the discriminatory exclusion of those whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness from medical assistance in dying was filed, with plaintiffs including John Scully, Claire Elyse Brosseau, and Dying With Dignity Canada; on October 30, Quebec became the first province in Canada to allow advance requests for medical assistance in dying; DWDC's Barrie and Thunder Bay (Ontario) Chapters were established; and Private Member's Bill C-390 was tabled by MP Sylvie Berube that would provide immunity from prosecution under the Criminal Code to any province or territory which establishes a law providing for an advance request regime within their health care system. The timeline also notes that on January 6, 2025, the Governor General prorogues Parliament until March 24, 2025.

National human-rights charity focused on end-of-life rights, choice, and care in Canada.

1. 1Dying With Dignity Canada | It's your life. It's your choice.dyingwithdignity.ca
2. 2Our History | Dying With Dignity Canadadyingwithdignity.ca
3. 3About Us | Dying With Dignity Canadadyingwithdignity.ca
4. 4Contact | Dying With Dignity Canadadyingwithdignity.ca
5. 5Dying with Dignity Canadawikidata.org