In the 1990s, the term medical assistance in dying was not used prominently to discuss the possibility of individuals requesting help to end their life due to specific circumstances. We were more likely to be exposed to descriptions such as physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, particularly after the highly publicized incarceration of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in the United States.

Since June 2016, Canada has had federal regulations to allow for medical assistance in dying. Nine years later, Canadians do not appear to be particularly upset about the guidelines. In our latest survey, three in four Canadians (75 per cent, up two points since 2023) are in favour of allowing a person to seek medical assistance in dying in Canada if five conditions are met: eligibility for health services funded by the federal government, or a province or territory, being at least 18 years old and mentally competent, having a grievous and irremediable medical condition, making a voluntary request for medical assistance in dying that is not the result of outside pressure or influence, and giving informed consent to receive medical assistance in dying.

When asked about the regulations directly, more than half of Canadians (52 per cent, up four) are satisfied with the scope of the law, while one in four (24 per cent,........

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