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Answering Your Questions
Below are some FAQs about Physician-Assisted Death. We answer
more of your questions on our website at www.cpso.on.ca
1 The Interim Guidance document
says that physician-assisted death
is accessible only to adults. At what
age would a patient be considered an
“adult” in this context?
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) specified that physician-assisted death should be
available to “adults” who meet the criteria
for physician-assisted death, as set out in the
Carter case. The SCC did not define the term
“adult”, nor specify a minimum age at which
an individual will be considered an adult in
this context.
The age at which an individual would
be considered an adult for the purposes of
physician-assisted death remains unclear. This
is because there is no uniform age at which
an individual is considered an adult for legal
purposes. Across Canada, the age of majority
varies from province to province. In certain
provinces and territories including Ontario,
the age of majority is 18 years, while in others it is 19 years. Also, Ontario’s health care
consent laws do not st \ []HHZ[