More Than 2,800 Errors Identified in BC MAID Cases in 2024, Internal Report Finds

A nurse takes a moment to write some notes during her shift at a hospital in Vancouver on Dec. 4, 2020. Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press

Health professionals in B.C. made 2,807 errors while managing more than 4,000 euthanasia cases in 2024, according to documents from the provincial health ministry.

The B.C. oversight unit for medical assistance in dying (MAID) identified 2,807 cases that required government “follow-up” from at least 4,169 MAID cases handled that year, according to the documents first obtained by the news outlet Canadian Catholic News through a freedom of information request.

The report’s text indicates that 4,169 individuals requested MAID in 2024, representing an almost 10 percent rise compared to 2023.

The MAID Oversight Unit reported discovering errors within 51.9 percent of MAID “case outcomes” that necessitated corrective “follow-up.” The unit defines follow-up as the process of acquiring missing information or providing clarification on existing details.

The report says that out of the thousands of errors, 353 cases, or roughly 12.5 percent, raised compliance issues and necessitated the “education” of practitioners and pharmacists to ensure they grasped MAID’s legal requirements and professional standards.

Data pertaining to the 4,169 MAID cases indicates that 72 percent of these individuals died because they received the procedure, the report said. An additional 23 percent died from other causes, 4 percent were deemed ineligible, and 1.4 percent of individuals decided to withdraw their request.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) told The Epoch Times via email that it was unable to comment on findings of the oversight unit’s report.

“CPSBC’s role is to regulate individual physicians and surgeons in BC and ensure they provide safe care to their patients,” the email said. “CPSBC cannot comment on clinical, health or health system matters.”

The Epoch Times also contacted the province for comment on the report but did not hear back before publication time.

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition executive director Alex Schadenberg said the MAID oversight report showed there were “an incredible number of euthanasia errors” made in 2024.

“What is most concerning is that euthanasia concerns literally a life and death act,” he said in an email to The Epoch Times. “The law gives doctors and nurse practitioners an exception to the criminal code for homicide and yet there are compliance concerns in 12.5 percent of the deaths… and not one doctor was prosecuted, lost their medical license or even received serious sanctions.”

BC Data

British Columbia is one of the provinces with the highest incidence of MAID procedures.

Health Canada’s annual MAID report for 2024 showed it placed third behind Quebec and Ontario.

Health Canada statistics differ slightly from the B.C. oversight unit’s report. While B.C.’s stats vary between 4,169 and 4,190 requests for MAID, Health Canada’s count comes in at 4,177. It shows that 2,997 received the procedure, 957 died of other causes, 167 were deemed ineligible, and 56 withdrew their requests.

B.C.’s Medical Assistance in Dying Statistical Report for 2025 shows the number of procedures rose last year. A total of 3,189 people were given the life-ending procedure between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.

The vast majority of those to receive MAID were older than 65 and evenly split between males and females, the report said.

Canada first legalized euthanasia in 2016 for eligible adults whose natural death was reasonably foreseeable. In 2021, Parliament expanded eligibility to include people with a grievous and irremediable illness, disease, or disability, whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable.

Further expansion of eligibility to those whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness has been delayed until 2027 after repeated postponements amid concerns about the system’s readiness.