MAiD as a case study in evidence for policy making: An account of the CCA assessment on medical assistance in dying

In December 2016, the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) was asked by the Government of Canada to undertake an assessment on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), following from Parliament’s passage of Bill C-14: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code and to Make Related Amendments to Other Acts. The CCA was asked to undertake an assessment of the state of knowledge on three topics that Parliament excluded from C-14: requests for MAiD by mature minors, advance requests for MAiD, and requests for MAiD where a mental disorder is the sole underlying medical condition. Here, we describe the way that the CCA responded to the request from the Government of Canada using a multidisciplinary expert panel approach, how different forms of evidence were identified and used, the impact of the CCA assessment as part of the broader conversation occurring in Canada, and its implications for health leaders.