Issued by the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2026 | Geneva — Today in Geneva, United Nations Human Rights Committee members expressed surprise at Canada’s claim that Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) does not require governments to take positive measures to protect life when it is at risk.
In a joint statement ahead of the Committee’s review of Canada’s ICCPR compliance, human rights groups had called on the Committee to press Canada to accept that the right to life requires governments to take positive measures to address systemic conditions that place lives at risk. These conditions include homelessness, lack of access to essential healthcare, toxic drug deaths, violence against Indigenous women and girls, food insecurity, unsafe water, inadequate disability supports, and climate change.
“In case after case, Canadian governments argue that even when people are dying, they have no constitutional duty to act,” says Michèle Biss, Executive Director of the National Right to Housing Network. “The right to life means more than simply refraining from harm. It requires governments to prevent foreseeable loss of life.”
The United Nations Human Rights Committee monitors Canada’s compliance with the ICCPR, which guarantees the “inherent right to life” in Article 6. This is the first time the committee has reviewed Canada since 2015. The Committee has consistently affirmed that protecting the right to life requires states to adopt “positive measures” and to address “general conditions in society” that threaten life. “Positive measures” require states to take proactive steps to guarantee rights, rather than merely refrain from violating them.
Today, committee members questioned Canada’s restrictive interpretation of the right to life, which includes denying any obligation to ensure access to health care when life is at risk. Committee members further raised concerns about Canada’s reliance on punitive responses to drug use and homelessness rather than addressing serious risks to life. Committee members referred to the Committee’s General Comment No. 36 (2018), which affirms that protecting the right to life requires states to adopt “positive measures” and to address “general conditions in society” that may threaten life, including inadequate health care, homelessness, toxic drug deaths and environmental degradation. Canada has rejected this interpretation in its submissions to the Committee and in litigation before domestic courts.
Domestically, Canada has opposed arguments invoking positive rights made under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, asserting that governments are not legally required to take positive measures—even where evidence shows that lives are in foreseeable danger. Canada has made these arguments in cases where individuals have invoked their right to life in response to homelessness, denial of health care, climate inaction, or the closure of supervised consumption sites.
“Canada’s refusal to fully uphold the right to life has allowed for thousands of preventable deaths across the country,” says Beeta Senedjani of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “We are hopeful the committee will hold Canada to account and spur the changes we need to ensure all people in Canada can be healthy and safe.”
The coalition calls on the Committee to recommend that Canada:
- Affirm that the right to life requires positive measures to protect life, consistent with the Committee’s jurisprudence;
- Review and revise its domestic litigation positions to ensure consistency with its international human rights obligations;
- Implement the Committee’s Views in Toussaint v. Canada; and
- Ensure access to effective remedies for systemic violations of the right to life.
“Courts in Canada have held that international human rights laws are not abstract, aspirational principles,” says Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Director for the HIV Legal Network. “The Charter is presumed to provide protections as outlined in the international human rights treaties it has ratified.”
The full joint statement is available here.
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Media Contact:
Jessica Hannon
jthannon@sfu.ca
604-341-5005