Medically assisted death nonprofit says fear is hampering its search for permanent space

When Tekla Henrickson pictures the ideal home for her nonprofit, MAiDHouse, she imagines a house on a quiet, leafy street in downtown Toronto. 

Henrickson, who is the group's executive director, says it would be accessible for people with disabilities, with space inside to run programs and prepare food. Most importantly, it would have "a lovely room, preferably [with a] fireplace, that we can make cozy and comfortable with a chair and a couch." 

That's the room where MAiDHouse would carry out one of its core missions: providing people with a free, home-like setting where they can get Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). 

But 13 months into an extensive search in Toronto, the group has yet to find a suitable space, forcing it to continue to rely on a temporary room that limits the number of people the nonprofit can help, said Henrickson. 

"It's been much more difficult than we had thought," said Dr. Chantal Perrot, chair of MAiDHouse's board of directors and herself a MAID provider. 

Henrickson says they've put in numerous applications to rent, and have even approached developers directly in hopes of striking a deal — but she says discomfort and misperceptions have gotten in the way. 

"We discovered that landlords, even though they would be interested and willing to rent to us, when we put in our offer to lease, they got squeamish and backed out," explained Perrot. 

Since MAID became legal in 2016, the procedure has been carried out in clinical settings, houses and apartments, and in specially rented rooms — including motels, hotels and funeral homes. 

What's missing, says the team behind MAiDHouse, is access to a free and comfortable place for those who can't afford to rent somewhere, or can't — or don't want to — die at home or at the hospital. 

They might be unhoused or underhoused, or "concerned about those who they share a home with, and whether that's what they want their last memories to be," said Henrickson. 

Hospitals, meanwhile, can be "very clinical, and also, in the pandemic, people are limited in the number of people who can come with them," she continued. 

"And some hospitals are not even allowing people to come in for their MAID procedure." 

That struggle to find the right place can have disastrous consequences, says Henrickson. 

She says the MAID providers who work with her organization have described patients who are unable to find a suitable place in time to receive the procedure, resulting in more painful, drawn-out deaths.