Dying with Dignity Canada is a 3-star charity. It has a B+ Results Reporting grade, which is above average. Its overhead costs are within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity’s reserves can cover program costs for four years and two months, which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 1982, Dying with Dignity Canada (DWDC) seeks to improve individuals’ quality of dying, protect end-of-life rights, and help Canadians avoid unwanted suffering. It focuses on medical assistance in dying (MAID). The charity runs three programs: advocacy, support, and education. It spent $2.2m on its programs in 2024, and it did not break down spending by program.

Advocacy works to ensure that Canada’s assisted dying laws follow the Constitution. The charity’s current advocacy priorities include: advance requests, institutional religious obstructions (IROs), mental illness, and mature minors. DWDC wants to legalize advance requests, which is a written request made by a competent person that could be honoured later, after they lose the capacity to make medical decisions for themselves. It is currently only legal in Quebec. In 2024, the charity sent 50,341 letters to decision-makers in support of advance requests for MAID. An IRO is when an institution denies a person’s right to health care, including MAID, on religious grounds. DWDC is advocating to allow people whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness to be eligible for MAID. The charity is advocating to allow mature minors, under 18, to have a choice in receiving MAID. The charity had 30 meetings with MPs, senators, or ministers in 2024.

Support helps those at the end of their lives who are seeking MAID. DWDC distributed over 28,500 resources and supported 2,041 new people in 2024.

Education informs people on MAID planning, patient rights, and their legal end-of-life options. Due to misinformation surrounding MAID, DWDC created a Myths and Facts page on its website. The charity gave 181 presentations to over 5,700 attendees in 2024, educating them on their end-of-life choices.

In 2019, DWDC was sued by its former CEO for $1.8m due to alleged wrongful dismissal and systemic discrimination. The charity denies the claims.

Dying with Dignity Canada’s audited financial statements follow line-item costing, which is not a best practice. This means Ci had to refer to the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA to report program, administrative, and fundraising costs. The charity received $2.9m in donations, which is 77% of revenue in 2024. It received $753k in investment income.

DWDC spent $2.2m on its programs in 2024, which is 57% of revenue. It ran a surplus of $778k, which is 21% of revenue. The charity spent $524k on fundraising (18% of donations), and spent $326k on administration, which is 11% of revenue. For every dollar donated to the charity, 71 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

DWDC has $9.0m in its reserves (cash and investments). These funds can cover program costs for four years and two months, which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range.

The charity paid external fundraisers $439k to raise $785k. The cost of raising a dollar through external fundraisers is 56 cents. It is likely more cost-efficient to donate directly to the charity.

Updated on July 11, 2025 by Joshua Leduc. This update has been sent to the charity and changes may be forthcoming.

Learn more about MAID in Canada:

Government of Canada, 2023 Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, 

The 2023 report for the first time provides a more comprehensive picture of MAID in Canada. It reports data on who is using MAID as per the new Parliamentary rule that came into force January 1, 2023. This provides extensive information on a socially controversial topic.