Euthanasia facility opens at Catholic-run St. Paul’s Hospital, sparking ethical debate. Plans for another MAiD unit at new site raise concerns.
Newsroom, June 26, 2024, Gaudium Press – A government-mandated euthanasia facility, operated by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, has begun operations on the downtown campus of St. Paul’s Hospital, a Catholic-run institution founded 131 years ago by the Sisters of Providence. The facility, discreetly named the “Shoreline Space,” opened on January 6, 2025, despite vehement opposition from Catholic leaders and pro-life advocates who argue it violates the sanctity of a healthcare institution rooted in the Church’s pro-life teachings. A six-month investigation by Canadian Catholic News has also uncovered plans for a second euthanasia unit at the new St. Paul’s Hospital, slated to open in 2027 on False Creek Flats, intensifying concerns about the erosion of Catholic healthcare principles.
A Controversial Facility on Sacred Ground
The Shoreline Space, a standalone structure roughly the size of a laneway home, is tucked into an interior courtyard of St. Paul’s Hospital at 1081 Burrard Street. Built at an undisclosed cost by Vancouver Coastal Health, the facility is enclosed by a two-meter-high black chain-link fence and a locked gate, with no external signage indicating its purpose. Inside the hospital’s Providence Building, a locked door labeled “Shoreline Space. Vancouver Coastal Health” provides the only hint of its function. Security cameras and floodlights ensure controlled access, and the facility is accessible only to authorized personnel and patients.
The Catholic Church unequivocally condemns euthanasia and assisted suicide. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 2277) states that “intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder” and that suicide “contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life” (paragraph 2281). The Second Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes lists euthanasia among “infamies” that “poison human society” and dishonor the Creator. Providence Health Care, which operates St. Paul’s under the Archdiocese of Vancouver, has maintained strict policies prohibiting abortion and euthanasia on its premises, aligning with these teachings. However, the provincial government’s decision to impose the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) facility on the hospital’s campus in November 2023 left Providence powerless to resist.
In an April 17, 2025, email to Canadian Catholic News, a Vancouver Coastal Health spokesperson described the Shoreline Space as a “new space [that] provides patients with options for specialized end-of-life care in a way that supports and respects them, their loved ones, and health-care providers.” The facility’s creation followed years of pressure from pro-MAiD activists, notably the B.C. branch of Dying with Dignity Canada, amplified by media coverage of cases like that of Sam O’Neill, a Vancouver woman whose family criticized her transfer from St. Paul’s to access MAiD in 2023.
Plans for the New St. Paul’s Hospital
The Canadian Catholic News investigation, supported by freedom-of-information requests, revealed that Vancouver Coastal Health is actively planning a MAiD unit at the new St. Paul’s Hospital, under construction at 1002 Station Street on False Creek Flats. A November 15, 2024, email from Laurel Plewes, operations director of Vancouver Coastal’s Assisted Dying Program, to Jennifer Chan of Providence Health Care outlined preliminary requirements for the facility:
2,800 square feet of internal space.
Ground-level entry or a ramp (not included in the square footage).
Proximity to the hospital’s pharmacy, with a travel time of five minutes or less.
Connections for sewage, water, electricity, and IT infrastructure.
Two parking spots for staff and easy access for transfer vans.
A physical address to guide emergency services.
The email emphasized that patients should remain in their Providence beds during transfers to the MAiD unit, preserving Providence’s policy against performing euthanasia. Another email, dated November 27, 2024, from Nina Dhaliwal, a senior project manager at Vancouver Coastal, discussed “future planning for MAiD spaces” and coordination with the “MAiD team,” referencing a “Service-Oriented Architecture” and a “Functional Program.” While neither Vancouver Coastal nor Providence has publicly confirmed these plans, the documents suggest a deliberate effort to integrate euthanasia services into the new hospital, set to open in 2027.
MAiD in Catholic Hospices
The investigation also found that Vancouver Coastal Health operates MAiD rooms in buildings housing two Catholic-run hospices: May’s Place Hospice and St. John Hospice. At St. John Hospice, located in a building leased by Vancouver Coastal, Providence operates a 14-bed hospice, while Vancouver Coastal uses a separate room for MAiD since 2021. Similarly, at May’s Place, Providence leases space for a six-bed hospice, while Vancouver Coastal uses a distinct area for MAiD. Shaf Hussain, a Providence communications officer, clarified in a May 30, 2025, email that these MAiD spaces are “separate and away” from Providence’s operations and located in buildings not owned by Providence.
Hussain emphasized that Providence does not proactively discuss MAiD with patients. “We never initiate an offer of MAiD,” he wrote in a June 17, 2025, email. If a patient inquires, Providence contacts Vancouver Coastal’s MAiD team and ensures patients are informed about non-MAiD end-of-life options, including palliative care and community support. Two independent assessments by doctors or nurse practitioners are required to confirm MAiD eligibility, and patients are offered treatments to alleviate suffering, as mandated by law.
Ethical and Legal Battles
Canada’s MAiD law, enacted in 2016, decriminalizes euthanasia and assisted suicide when performed by medical professionals at a patient’s request. In 2023, MAiD accounted for 15,343 deaths—4.7% of Canada’s total deaths—with a median recipient age of just under 78. Cancer was the most cited condition (64.1%), though MAiD does not require a terminal illness. Efforts to expand eligibility to include mental illness as a sole criterion, paused until 2027 due to legal challenges and public opposition, remain under debate.
The imposition of MAiD facilities on Catholic healthcare sites has drawn sharp criticism. Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, described the developments as “incredibly sad,” lamenting the operational Shoreline Space and the planned unit at the new St. Paul’s. Dr. Will Johnston of the Euthanasia Resistance Coalition of B.C. called the government’s actions “totalitarianism,” accusing pro-MAiD advocates of undermining inclusion and diversity by forcing euthanasia into life-affirming settings.
A June 2024 lawsuit, filed by Sam O’Neill’s mother, Dying with Dignity Canada, and a doctor, alleges that Providence, Vancouver Coastal, and the B.C. government violated O’Neill’s constitutional right to access MAiD by requiring her transfer from St. Paul’s. The plaintiffs seek to mandate MAiD in all provincially funded facilities, including those operated by Providence, which relies on government funding but owns its hospitals. Providence’s service contract with the province guarantees its right to prohibit euthanasia and abortion, with patients seeking MAiD discharged and transferred to Vancouver Coastal facilities.
In November 2023, the B.C. government announced a “workaround” to address activist concerns, taking land on the St. Paul’s campus to build the Shoreline Space. Patients are discharged from Providence and transferred to Vancouver Coastal’s care in the facility, which is connected to the hospital by a corridor. Then-Archbishop J. Michael Miller stated that this arrangement “respects and preserves Providence’s policy” against MAiD, but critics argue it compromises the Catholic identity of the institution.
A Growing Divide
From 2016 to 2023, over 60,300 Canadians ended their lives through MAiD, with 15,343 cases in 2023 alone, excluding 2,900 approved applicants who died before the procedure. The program’s expansion, coupled with its integration into Catholic healthcare settings, has deepened ethical and legal tensions. Pro-euthanasia groups, including Dying with Dignity, have labeled patient transfers for MAiD as “cruel and unusual,” while Catholic and pro-life advocates argue that forcing euthanasia onto faith-based institutions violates religious freedom.
As planning continues for the new St. Paul’s Hospital and the lawsuit against Providence progresses, the conflict over MAiD in Catholic healthcare underscores a broader societal debate about autonomy, morality, and the role of government in shaping end-of-life care. For now, the Shoreline Space stands as a stark symbol of this divide, operating quietly within the walls of a hospital founded on the principle of preserving life.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from OSV News
Related Images:
