An Act to amend An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying), No. 2

How it changed on the way

18% of the text as introduced was changed or removed by the time it became law (507 words introduced, 476 passed).

minor changeintent kept

The bill passed with its core purpose unchanged: delaying medical assistance in dying for mental illness until March 17, 2027. Only the coming-into-force date in the final clause was updated from the prior law's 2024 reference.

• Updated the coming-into-force date for the mental-illness exclusion.

  Before: “6 Subsection 1(2.1) comes into force on March 17, 2024.”

  After: “6 Subsection 1(2.1) comes into force on March 17, 2027.”

How precisely it is written

mostly preciseChallenging the law: ModerateDisputing a charge: Hard

The bill uses fixed calendar dates and direct statutory amendments to delay MAID eligibility for mental illness until 17 March 2027. The parliamentary review provisions contain fewer objective markers and more open-ended language.

Open to argument

• “a comprehensive review relating to the eligibility”

  The adjective 'comprehensive' supplies no objective test for scope or depth.

• “which may include a statement of any recommended changes”

  The permissive 'may' leaves the content of any report undefined.

Clear-cut

• “Subsection 1(2.1) comes into force on March 17, 2027.”

  A single, unambiguous date fixes the end of the exclusion.

• “The Committee must commence its review within two years after the day on which this Act receives royal assent.”

  A clear, calculable time limit governs when review begins.

• “The Committee expires on the earlier of the day on which it tables its report before both Houses of Parliament and March 17, 2027.”

  Objective alternative dates determine automatic termination.

Discretion. No powers are delegated to ministers, officials or regulations; all timelines and the exclusion itself are set directly in the statute.

Challenging the law itself. A vagueness or overbreadth claim under Charter s. 7 could target the undefined scope of the 'comprehensive review' and the open-ended report contents.

Disputing a charge under it. The operative rule is a simple date-based eligibility bar, leaving little room to dispute whether the exclusion applies on any given day before 17 March 2027.

Read by a language model from the royal assent text; every quoted phrase appears in the bill. A reading of the drafting, not legal advice.