OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — Canada’s Catholic bishops have said they “support” a Conservative bill before Parliament that would ban extending state-sponsored euthanasia to those with mental illness.
“The CCCB supports Bill C-218, which seeks to stop ‘MAiD’ for mental illness alone, and encourages the Catholic faithful, in communion with their local Bishop, and all people of goodwill, to express their support for the same,” wrote the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in a statement dated February 6, 2026.
“We further call on the government to allow free conscience voting on this matter, given its profound moral and social implications.”
The CCCB noted that human life is a “gift that must be protected and valued at every stage and in every circumstance.”
Bill C-218, as reported by LifeSiteNews, or “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying [i.e., euthanasia]),” was introduced by Conservative Party MP Tamara Jansen and passed its first reading on June 20, 2025.
LifeSiteNews reported on Bill C-218, noting that the bill’s sponsor, CPC MP Jansen, said allowing “medical assistance in dying” (MAID) – a euphemism for assisted suicide – for those with mental illness is “not healthcare, that’s not compassion, it’s abandonment.”
At its core, Bill C-218 calls for the planned 2027 expansion of euthanasia to be repealed.
Canada’s Catholic bishops noted that as long as Canadian legislation “regrettably continues to permit euthanasia, the CCCB will also advocate for measures that prevent even wider and more vulnerable segments of the population from gaining access to it.”
“As Canada’s Bishops have consistently affirmed, euthanasia and assisted suicide – whether for the sick, the dying, persons with disabilities, or those with mental illness – are always morally unacceptable,” they said.
“These actions disregard the inviolable dignity of every person, fracture family and relational bonds, and weaken our shared social responsibility to protect human life and provide care for the vulnerable and marginalized.”
Canada’s euthanasia laws set to expand in 2027 unless law changes
Assisted suicide was legalized by the Liberal government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016.
Under the current law, assisted suicide is prohibited for minors and the mentally ill. Activists, however, have been pushing for expansions with varying degrees of success.
In 2021, the Trudeau government expanded euthanasia from killing only “terminally ill” patients to allowing the chronically ill to qualify after the passage of Bill C-7. Since then, the government has sought to include those suffering solely from mental illness.
In February of 2024, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups, as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.
The expansion of euthanasia for the mentally ill is slated to become law in 2027 as a consequence of the passage of Bill C-7.
The Conservative Party has attempted to oppose the expansion of euthanasia for some time, but recent legislative attempts to stop the expansion outright, instead of just delaying it, such as through Bill C-314, have failed.
Bill C-218 is not the only bill from the Conservatives to restrict legal euthanasia.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis introduced Bill C-260, titled “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying – protection against coercion),” which, if passed, would ban any person in government or other authority from proposing to someone that they consider euthanasia if the person did not ask for it.