Engagement on Indigenous Perspectives on Medical Assistance in Dying

From Health Canada

Current status: Closed

This consultation ran from August 17, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

The information collected through the online tool and broader engagement activities will be used to build a What We Heard report on the views and experiences of Indigenous Peoples on MAID, planned for release in 2025. The What We Heard report will help to guide culturally safe and informed MAID policy at all levels of government and respect the diversity of Indigenous Peoples.

We hope that you join the discussion and share it with your family, friends and community. You can participate by questionnaire, by poll, by sharing your story, or by email or mail. Choose one or all ways to participate. Please contact us in the language of your choice.

Participate by questionnaire

Complete the questionnaire. All responses are anonymous.

Participate by poll

Answer the poll. All responses are anonymous.

Participate by sharing your story

Share your story. Stories shared through this function are public.

Send us an email

Send an email with your ideas or comments to ieolc.sfva@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Participate by mail

Send your comments to:

Indigenous End-of-Life Care Policy
Strategic Policy Branch
Mail Stop 1904
4th Floor Jeanne Mance Building
200 Eglantine Driveway
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9

Who is the focus of this engagement

This online engagement is open to any person self-identifying as Indigenous in Canada, including:

• Inuit
• Métis
• First Nations
• urban Indigenous People
• non-status/off-reserve Indigenous People
• Indigenous organizations and associations
• Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ and gender diverse people

If you don't identify as Indigenous and would like to share your perspectives and views on MAID policy, email ieolc.sfva@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Purpose of engagement

This online engagement tool will help support the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives and experiences in federal policy on MAID. The information collected through the online tool and broader engagement activities will be used to build a What We Heard report on the views and experiences of Indigenous Peoples on MAID, planned for release in 2025. The What We Heard report will help to guide culturally safe and informed MAID policy at all levels of government and respect the diversity of Indigenous Peoples.

Health Canada is committed to walking the shared path of reconciliation guided by the Principles respecting the Government of Canada's Relationship with Indigenous Peoples and aligned with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We recognize the ongoing barriers to receiving culturally safe end-of-life care, including:

• limited access to health care and services
• systemic racism and discrimination in the health care system

Health Canada is dedicated to working with Indigenous Peoples to address these challenges and improve access to culturally appropriate end-of-life care services, including MAID.

Broader engagement approach

Health Canada has begun a 2-year engagement process to hear from First Nations, Inuit and Métis, including urban Indigenous People, non-status/off-reserve Indigenous People, Two-Spirit, LGBTQQIA+ and gender diverse people, on MAID. During this time, we are partnering with some Indigenous organizations who are leading their own community engagement activities. Indigenous-led engagement will be supported by a series of national knowledge exchange roundtables in 2023 and 2024.

Our next steps will combine knowledge shared through the online tool and views expressed through other Indigenous-led and Health Canada-led engagement activities. This will help inform an approach to MAID policy design that is more:

• inclusive
• appropriate
• culturally safe

If you would like to get involved further, email ieolc.sfva@hc-sc.gc.ca.

What we are hearing

As part of public engagements in 2020, Health Canada and the Department of Justice hosted a roundtable on MAID with Indigenous Peoples. During the roundtable, we heard from:

• Elders
• Cultural Carriers
• Indigenous Leaders
• Knowledge Keepers
• Indigenous practitioners

Participants shared some of the unique challenges around MAID in their communities. Specifically, the historic and ongoing harms of colonialism, and the intergenerational trauma experienced by individuals and communities, have resulted in health inequities and barriers to accessing health services for Indigenous communities across Canada. This is made even more difficult by other forms of intersectional discrimination, such as:

• sexism
• ableism
• transphobia
• homophobia

Roundtable participants noted that access to MAID is more limited in remote and northern communities. Many said that cultural safety was an important safeguard needed for Indigenous Peoples, and that it would be important to train health care providers to deliver culturally safe care.

Attendees shared that culturally safe MAID included:

• culturally safe care
• access to equitable health services
• the building of trust in the medical system and in health care providers
• the elimination of systemic racism in health care

Participants also spoke about the:

• need to engage Indigenous communities more broadly about MAID
• importance of recognizing self-determination and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Participants also shared the importance of respectful collaboration and engagement between healthcare workers and Elders, spiritual leaders, Knowledge Keepers and Cultural Carriers. They emphasized that collaboration is key to support the culturally safe provision of MAID to eligible individuals, that reflects the distinct needs of:

• Inuit
• Métis
• First Nations
• urban Indigenous People
• non-status/off-reserve Indigenous People
• Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQQIA+ and gender diverse people

Related information

Medical assistance in dying (MAID)

Contact us

Contact us in the language of your choice.

Indigenous End-of-Life Care Policy
Strategic Policy Branch
Mail Stop 1904
4th Floor Jeanne Mance Building
200 Eglantine Driveway
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9

Email: ieolc.sfva@hc-sc.gc.ca

Resources

Some information on this web page may be sensitive, triggering or difficult to deal with emotionally. We encourage you to take time to care for your mental and emotional well-being. Confidential mental health and crisis intervention supports are available.

9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8. Help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline offers support that is:

• bilingual
• trauma-informed
• culturally appropriate
• available to anyone in Canada

Hope for Wellness Helpline

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to all Indigenous people across Canada.

Telephone: 1-855-242-3310

Online chat counselling service

Indian Residential School Crisis Line

Provides 24-hour crisis support to former Indian Residential School students and their families.

Telephone: 1-866-925-4419 (toll-free)

Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

An independent, national support call line that addresses issues such as:

• suicide
• self-harm
• child abuse
• sexual assault
• domestic violence
• bullying and harassment

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Telephone: 1-844-413-6649 (toll-free)

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: Contact