AB Bill 18 Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act

Bill Sponsor: Amery

Bill Type: Government Bills

Amendments: No

Money Bill: No

Documents Bill 18

March 18, 2026 passed 1124

March 31, 2026 passed 1332-37

April 14, 2026 adjourned 1462-65

April 16, 2026 passed 1524-28

April 22, 2026 passed on division 1607-12

4/29/2026 11:08 PM

WHO GAINS POWER

The Alberta Minister of Justice gains authority to establish 150-metre exclusion zones around any health care facility that opts out of MAID — meaning practitioners cannot provide MAID assessments or the procedure itself within that buffer
The Minister controls the Care Coordination Service — the gatekeeper that approves which practitioners are permitted to provide MAID in Alberta — and can delegate that authority by order
Health care facility operators gain an explicit right to refuse to permit MAID or MAID assessments on their premises — hospitals, continuing care homes and supportive living facilities can opt out entirely
Individual practitioners gain an explicit right to refuse to provide MAID or MAID opinions — with no obligation beyond directing the patient to a resource with information about available options
Hearing tribunals gain mandatory sanctioning authority — they must cancel a practitioner's registration for certain violations, with no discretion

WHO LOSES POWER

Practitioners who want to provide MAID must first be approved by the Care Coordination Service — they cannot simply meet federal requirements and proceed
Practitioners are prohibited from referring patients to providers in other jurisdictions for MAID assessments — cross-border referrals are explicitly banned
Regulated health professionals cannot display MAID information publicly in any health care facility and cannot raise MAID with a patient unless the patient asks first
The federal MAID framework is effectively narrowed in Alberta — the Bill adds Alberta-specific eligibility conditions on top of federal law, including a 12-month natural death foreseeability requirement and mandatory family witness

WHO GAINS MONEY

WHO LOSES MONEY

No direct financial transfers — but patients who cannot access MAID locally due to facility opt-outs or exclusion zones may face travel costs to access the service elsewhere

THE CATCH

Alberta adds a 12-month natural death foreseeability requirement that is stricter than the federal standard — under federal law, Track 1 MAID requires only that natural death be "reasonably foreseeable," with no fixed timeline; Alberta sets a hard 12-month cap
Mental illness as a sole underlying condition is explicitly excluded — this aligns with the current federal pause on that track, but Alberta is now encoding it provincially
A family member must witness the procedure in person unless the practitioner determines no family member is "reasonably available" — this is an Alberta-only requirement with no equivalent in federal law
Health professionals cannot proactively mention MAID to patients — patients must ask first, which means those who don't know to ask may never be informed of the option
The 150-metre exclusion zone applies to assessments as well as the procedure itself — a practitioner cannot even assess eligibility within that buffer around an opted-out facility
The Bill comes into force by proclamation — the government controls the start date with no deadline
Existing MAID requests already in progress are grandfathered — the new rules apply only to new requests made after the Bill comes into force

Account