41% of Canadians say doctors should be allowed to refuse MAID for religious reasons

A new poll has revealed a “deep divide” among Canadians’ attitudes to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID).

The online survey, conducted by ResearchCo. , found that 41 per cent of Canadians think health-care professionals should be able to decline providing MAID services if they have a moral or faith-based objection.

Forty-two per cent of respondents disagree, while the remaining 17 per cent said they weren’t sure.

That figure is up five points from a similar survey conducted by ResearchCo. in November 2022 .

“On a regional basis, opposition to moral or faith-based objections in physician-assisted death cases is highest in Alberta (47 per cent), followed by Atlantic Canada (45 per cent), Quebec (44 per cent), Ontario (41 per cent), British Columbia (also 41 per cent) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (36 per cent),” ResearchCo. said in a news release.

“Opposition is higher among Canadians aged 55 and over (45 per cent) than among their counterparts aged 35 to 54 (42 per cent) and aged 18 to 34 (39 per cent).”

Several provincial regulatory authorities have issued guidelines requiring medical practitioners who are unwilling or unable to provide MAID to refer patients to other institutions or providers.

In Ontario, for example, physicians and nurse practitioners who object to providing MAID must refer patients “in a timely manner” to another provider.

Gabrielle Peters , a disabled writer and policy analyst, said in an interview with National Post: “The idea of intentionally killing somebody is something that many people object to, and so I think this is a pretty fundamental right that we should be preserving in our society.

“I already feel that physicians are disempowered by the limitations of government, the way funding is structured, or the way their services are structured. And I can’t imagine what happens if we start saying you have no choice and no say in this very large decision.”

The federal government says provincial and territorial governments are responsible for determining how MAID can take place.

Doctors are not legally compelled to provide or help provide MAID, and neither are religious-run institutions. And many institutions, such as Providence Health Care in B.C., do not provide it.

In some cases, this means patients must be transferred to another facility.

However, Dying with Dignity, a charity focused on end-of-life care, says such transfers can harm patients with fragile health.

But Peters noted that this is not an anomaly in Canadian health care.

“There are people in northern communities, in rural communities and farming communities that have to travel great distances, far away from their family, in order to get appropriate health care.”

Even in major cities, patients may be moved between hospitals depending on available equipment or appointment capacity.

Peters added: “You also have to look at other people there. For me, as a patient, I don’t want a doctor coming to care for me who has just injected a lethal substance into somebody else. I don’t want that in my proximity when I am fighting to stay alive.”

The ResearchCo. survey, which was conducted online across a representative national sample of 1,001 adults in Canada, follows recent debate over expanding MAID eligibility.

At a March 24 parliamentary committee, Jocelyn Downie, a professor emeritus in the Faculties of Law and Medicine at Dalhousie University, argued that Canada must legalize assisted suicide for the mentally ill, lest those same patients commit suicide.

The poll also examined views on conscientious objection in other areas of care.

Support for allowing doctors to refuse abortion services on religious grounds was lower, at 38 per cent, while 48 per cent opposed the idea — rising to 51 per cent among women.

A majority of Canadians (57 per cent) oppose allowing health-care providers to refuse care to LGBTQ2+ individuals on religious grounds.

“More than half of Conservative Party voters in the 2025 federal election (53 per cent) would permit moral or faith-based objections in health-care delivery,” said Mario Canseco, president of Research Co.

“The proportion drops to 36 per cent among Liberal Party voters and to 34 per cent among New Democratic Party (NDP) voters.”

• This B.C. woman was offered MAID before other treatments. She said no to death and went on to climb a volcano
• Why Alberta is proposing a ban on 'advance requests' for MAID

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