PRESS RELEASE: “Do Better” – Inclusion Canada Welcomes UN Committee’s Concluding Observations on Canada’s Disability Rights Record

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 26, 2025

OTTAWA, ON – Canada has received a critical review by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the CRPD Committee). Canada has been directed to repeal Track 2 medical assistance in dying (MAiD), raise the “woefully inadequate” Canada Disability Benefit rate, and address regional disparities in how the CRPD is applied.

Track 2 MAiD is for people with disabilities whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable.

The CRPD committee says it “is based on negative, ableist perceptions of the quality and value of the life of persons with disabilities, including that ‘suffering’ is intrinsic to disability rather than the fact that inequality and discrimination cause and compound ‘suffering’ for persons with disabilities.”

“The UN is clear that our country must do better in upholding the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities,” says Krista Carr, CEO of Inclusion Canada, “A top priority is Track 2 MAiD – a real and dangerous threat to the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. It must be repealed.”

Among the key recommendations, the UN Committee has urged Canada to:

• Repeal Track 2 Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), including the planned 2027 expansion to persons whose “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness,” and reject proposals to expand MAiD to “mature minors” and through advance requests,
• Implement a coordinated deinstitutionalization strategy across federal, provincial, and territorial governments with clear timelines and targets,
• Withdraw Canada’s interpretative declaration and reservation to Article 12, which limits equal recognition before the law for persons with disabilities and undermines their right to exercise legal capacity,
• Establish a national inclusive education action plan to transition from segregated education to quality, inclusive education across all provinces and territories,
• Develop a strategy with specific timelines to transition from segregated employment settings such as sheltered workshops to open, inclusive, and accessible employment for persons with disabilities,
• Invest significantly in comprehensive measures to address systemic failures in social determinants of health and well-being, including poverty alleviation, accessible housing, prevention of homelessness, and community-based supports.

“These recommendations align with what people with intellectual disabilities and their families have been saying for years,” says President of Inclusion Canada, Moira Wilson, “Canada has an opportunity to lead in disability rights, but only if provincial and territorial governments and the federal government take these findings seriously and move swiftly to implement meaningful reforms.”

Inclusion Canada calls on all levels of government to implement the CRPD committee’s key recommendations. We are ready to support these efforts and will continue to advocate for a Canada where everyone belongs.

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For Media Inquiries, please contact:
Marc Muschler, Senior Communications Officer
Inclusion Canada
Email: mmuschler@inclusioncanada.ca
Direct: 416-661-9611 ext. 232

About Inclusion Canada

Inclusion Canada is the national federation of 13 provincial/territorial member organizations and over 300 local associations working to advance the full inclusion and human rights of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Inclusion Canada drives social change by strengthening families, defending rights, and transforming communities into places where everyone belongs.