If you have ever:

  • wondered how to plan for your health care and choices near the end of life,
  • made a medical decision for a family member who was acutely ill, or had a decision made for you in these circumstances,
  • provided supports or services to someone in the above circumstances,
  • worried about being able to access services like palliative care when you need it,

then you have been affected by Ontario’s laws relating to the last stages of life.

These laws affect many Ontarians, and in profound and life-changing ways.

The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) is leading a project called Improving the Last Stages of Life. The project considers how the law shapes the rights, choices, and quality of life for persons who are dying and those who support them.

The LCO uses the “last stages of life” as a broad and inclusive term to include the experience of dying as a process or a continuity of events, whether as a result of terminal illness, chronic conditions or serious frailties. This inclusive term allows us to look at issues including end-of-life planning, palliative care, and medical assistance in dying.

We welcome community participation in this project throughout our May-Sept 2017 consultation period. Our goal for public consultations is hear from Ontarians to identify and recommend law reforms that are concrete, precise, and responsive to the experience of persons in the last stages of life.

Please get involved. Your feedback is requested by September 29, 2017.

  • Check out the project website at http://www.lco-cdo.org/laststages. Read the Discussion Paper or Executive Summary and review the Consultation Issues Map and Issue Backgrounders
  • Provide written submissions at any time to lawcommission@lco-cdo.org
  • Watch the live and archived webcast consultation sessions
  • Download the project survey app on your iPhone or iPad, or complete the survey online
  • Propose an in-person focus group for your community
  • Contact Project Research Lawyer Ryan Fritsch via the below

 

Law Commission of Ontario

Email: lawcommission@lco-cdo.org

Website: www.lco-cdo.org

Telephone: (416) 650-8406

Toll-free: 1 (866) 950 8406

TTY: 1 (877) 650-8082