Christian World | Canada's Catholic bishops on Thursday asked Parliament to split Bill C-41 and remove provisions that would allow advance requests for euthanasia (MAID)

ACW | November 14, 2026 — Canada's Catholic bishops on Thursday urged Parliament to split Bill C-41 and strip out provisions that would allow advance requests for euthanasia, in a brief from their Permanent Council.

The government introduced Bill C-41, the Medical Assistance in Dying Safeguards Act, on Oct. 27, the brief said. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) said in a statement that a second-reading vote is expected soon.

Advance requests would allow a person to ask for euthanasia that is carried out only after they lose the capacity to consent, possibly years later, the bishops wrote. The brief said this would apply only in provinces that pass laws creating a registry for such requests.

"Once capacity has been lost, the person cannot weigh that information in light of their actual experience," the brief said. "Parliament has a responsibility to examine these questions before considering a change with irreversible consequences."

The bishops asked that the part keeping people whose sole condition is mental illness ineligible be voted on separately, before the March 17, 2027 deadline. The advance-request part should be voted on separately "after adequate study and debate," they said.

The CCCB also called for more investment in care, saying palliative care "should also be available throughout a life-limiting illness, including early in its course." It urged Catholics and other Canadians to write to their MPs before the vote.

No response from the Canadian government to the brief appeared in published reports.

Background: The CCCB has about 80 bishops, and its Permanent Council has 14 members, according to the brief. ACW earlier reported a related letter in French bishops urge Catholic hospitals to bar assisted dying.

Why it matters: Citing Health Canada data for 2024, the bishops said 50.3% of MAID recipients whose natural death was not reasonably foreseeable named a "perceived burden on family, friends or caregivers" as a source of suffering.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Sources: Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops — Split Bill C-41 and reject advance requests for euthanasia (Nov. 12, 2026); CCCB — Parliamentary brief on Bill C-41 (official text)

Photo: Benoit Debaix, Unsplash (illustrative) — Parliament Hill, Ottawa