Families want Canadian provinces to end MAID opt-out policy for faith-based hospitals

On the endure daylight of Risha Golby’s lifetime, she was forced come out of the way at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver that had been her home for six weeks.

The room where her daughter’s drawings hung on the walls, and where she had found relative comfort while being treated for pancreatic cancer.

Golby, 47, was placed in an ambulance and driven along bumpy roads to an outpatient facility on the grounds of Vancouver General Hospital. Her family says every stage of the transfer caused her pain.

“They didn't even have a bed for her to lie in. So, we did our best to get her settled into a La-Z-Boy recliner,” said Ashley Freeman, Golby’s younger sister.

Minutes after the family got Golby in the recliner and said their goodbyes, a doctor administered medical assistance in dying (MAID), and she was gone. The family was then reportedly told to vacate the room because it needed to be cleaned for another patient.

“This is the worst day of your life, watching your sister die. And it's made so much worse by this policy that inflicts unnecessary pain, unnecessary distress on the patient, their family members, the whole health-care team that's trying to care for the patient,” said Freeman.

After Golby’s death in 2022, a clinical space run by Vancouver Coastal Health was created adjacent to St. Paul’s and is connected to the hospital by a corridor so patients do not have to be transferred elsewhere by ambulance. But advocates say that’s not good enough.

A spokesperson for St. Paul’s Hospital’s operator, Providence Health Care, wouldn’t comment on the case for privacy reasons but said the MAID policy aligns with the Catholic operator's core values.

“Providence has a long-standing moral tradition of compassionate care that neither prolongs dying nor hastens death, rooted in the belief that all life is sacred and in the dignity of the person," wrote spokesperson Shaf Hussain.

The B.C. Government said at the time, while faith-based organizations may choose not to offer MAID services at their facilities, they are expected to work with health authorities to make sure the option is available to patients who choose it.

Dying With Dignity Canada says there are more than 100 forced transfers a year across the country, including one Vancouver-based doctor who had 44 patients forced to transfer in 2025 alone.

Provinces can legislate whether religious hospitals can prohibit MAID from taking place on their premises, and Quebec is the only province that does not allow faith-based institutions to opt out of performing MAID. 

In 2024, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montreal and Archdiocese of Montreal took the issue to court. They filed a legal challenge arguing Quebec's end-of-life legislation violates religious freedom. 

That case is still before the courts.

“Individuals have charter rights. But institutions do not. And in my view, an institution should not be able to impose its values on people who don't share those values,” said Daphne Gilbert, University of Ottawa law professor and vice-chair of Dying With Dignity Canada.

Jim McCaffrey, 87, spent four months at Bruyère Health Élisabeth-Bruyère Hospital in Ottawa. He had throat cancer and eventually it became too much.

In order to get MAID, he had to transfer to Ottawa General Hospital. His wife Helen says on the day that was supposed to take place, the ambulance was late.

She says her husband was agitated and required more and more medication to calm him down. 

The last few hours of her Jim's life were so traumatic, Helen McCaffrey underwent grief therapy for two years to deal with the guilt she felt.

“He just had zest for life. And I'm sorry that it was so sad for him. That he should be treated, really, like a piece of garbage. It was dreadful, dreadful,” said McCaffrey. 

Bruyère Health, which runs the hospital, was sorry to hear of the McCaffrey's experience.

“It is not reflective of the experience we would want for anyone we care for,” wrote an unnamed spokesperson in an email. They added Bruyère Health supports its patients in a compassionate way and its position on MAID is aligned with their responsibilities and values as a Catholic health-care institution.

Gilbert says there are more than 100 faith-based health facilities with about 13,000 beds in Canada, with each province handling them differently. 

She says most are run by the Catholic Church, with the archbishop of the diocese where the hospital is located deciding what types of care can and can’t take place at those institutions.

Religious exemptions to MAID law face challenge in B.C. Supreme Court

Gilbert adds patients are unable to access MAID, abortions or gender-affirming care at those hospitals.

“A lot of places don't offer choices. A lot of cities, the faith-based hospitals, [are] the only game in town. And so people are having to leave their city, their home base to access care,” said Gilbert.

The number of hospital beds controlled by faith-based facilities continues to grow across Canada. Alberta has the most faith-based hospitals in the country, says Gilbert. 

Covenant Health runs those facilities, and the organization is currently increasing capacity in Edmonton, at both Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals, which will add 700 more beds.

A spokesperson for Covenant Health said that while MAID is not administered at its properties, patients receive support throughout the process.

“Covenant Health is committed to providing compassionate, respectful care at every stage of that journey,” the spokesperson said in an email. “This approach reflects our commitment to compassionate care, patient rights and transparency, while respecting our faith-based mission."

Vancouver woman's family sues province, hospital operator over MAID policy

The issue of whether faith-based hospitals can prohibit MAID is also before the Supreme Court of British Columbia. 

The case was brought by the family of Samantha O’Neill who died in 2023. 

The 34-year-old was suffering from stage 4 cervical cancer and was taken by ambulance from St. Paul’s Hospital to a hospice administered by Vancouver Coastal Health in order to receive MAID. 

O’Neill’s family says the hospital was 25 minutes away and their daughter was in extreme pain. She was heavily sedated and never regained consciousness, depriving loved ones of the chance to say goodbye. 

Freeman, whose sister Golby went through the same thing, hopes the O’Neill’s case will compel provinces to change legislation when it comes to MAID.

“What I don't accept is that an institution, a publicly funded institution, was allowed to deny my sister her right to a dignified death. And that to me is not defensible, and that is what needs to change,” said Freeman.

Senior Reporter

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