End-of-Life Care for Federally Incarcerated Individuals in Canada

In this article, we review the current legislation, policies, and practices related to end- of-life care for federally incarcerated individuals as set out in statutes, guidelines, and government reports and documents that were either publicly available or obtained through Access to Information requests from the Parole Board of Canada and Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). Based on this review, we describe the status quo, identify gaps, and offer reflections and raise concerns regarding end-of-life care for federally incarcerated individuals. We conclude that there are significant information gaps about the number of people seeking end-of-life care and about how CSC is managing the provision of such care. The sparse information available is nonetheless sufficient to support the conclusion that there are good reasons to be concerned about how end-of-life care is regulated, monitored, recorded, and provided. Significant reforms are needed.