Canada’s 9-8-8 suicide prevention helpline has received more than 1 million calls and text messages since its launch in late 2023. That averages out to more than 300,000 per year.
Yet under current law, Canada is set to expand euthanasia, or medical assistance in dying (MAID), to people with mental illness as their sole underlying condition beginning March 17, 2027. If that expansion happens, some will be deemed worthy of suicide assistance while others will receive suicide prevention.
