End-of-Life Law Certificate
Four-day e-learning program for professionals
From ethical concerns over quality of life and individual choice, to practical concerns over financial legacies and planning, the law plays a vital part in the final chapters of peoples’ lives. Unpack these issues with up-to-date information and perspectives from both legal experts and health care professionals: the Queen’s Law End-of-Life Law Certificate is running from June 2-5, 2025. Cost: $2,900.
REGISTER NOW!
Registration closes May 26, 2025.
Develop your knowledge across a spectrum of issues
Designed for non-lawyers as well as legal practitioners, the QLEOLC brings theory and practice together. It will give participants a fundamental understanding of myriad legal issues surrounding end of life, ranging from access to care to medical assistance in dying; from funeral, burial and estate law to advance planning.
Gain insights you can take back to your career or practice, and propel your career with new expertise in this vital and growing area of law.
Got questions about the End of Life Law Certificate? Contact us lawprofessionalcertificates@queensu.ca
Certificate at a glance
What you will learn
This four-day virtual e-learning program delivers in-depth understanding of the many ways that the law is vital to end-of-life thinking and planning. It is taught by interdisciplinary experts from both the legal and professional fields.
- Learn about how the law affects general end-of-life planning, including key legal instruments (property, power of attorney, health care and advance directives)
- Learn about healthcare issues; the Canada Health Act, advance care planning, the withdrawal or withholding of treatment, palliative care and medical assistance in dying (MAID)
- Learn about post-death issues including organ donation and funeral, burial and estate law
- Learn about the impact of end-of-life decisions and care, including advance care planning and end-of-life planning.
Who should attend
All learners are welcome to four days of e-learning sessions, with no prior legal experience required. A short introductory module will be provided to participants with no legal background to familiarize them with key legal concepts and terminology that will be covered in the course.
This course is for both non-lawyer professionals and practicing lawyers. Whether you work in the non-profit sector, the private healthcare or elder care sector, finance and wealth management, government, or private legal practice, this course is for you. Diverse professional backgrounds are represented among our subject-matter experts – and encouraged among our students.
Fees
The fee for the End-of-Life Law Certificate is $2,900 and is payable upon acceptance of an offer of admission.
Are you part of a larger organization? Discounts are available for registrations of three or greater. Contact lawprofessionalcertificates@queensu.ca for details.
Topics
Day 1
- Introduction to End-of-Life Law
- Where and How to Access Clinical, Personal Care, and Support Services
Day 2
- Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Part One - Foundations
- Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Part Two - Current Controversies
Day 3
- Determination of Death and Organ Donation
- Palliative Care / Hospice
Day 4
- Advance Care Planning
- End-of-Life Planning
Content experts
Colleen M. Flood
Dean, Queen's University Faculty of Law
Colleen M. Flood is the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University. She served as a professor and the Canada Research Chair for the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law from 2000-2014 and as the inaugural director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics and University of Ottawa Research Chair in Health Law & Policy from 2014-2023. Dr. Flood holds a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) and Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) Honours from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her research informed national and global debates over privatization, health system design, accountability, governance, and the role of courts in defending rights in health care.
Her latest research focuses on the governance of health-related artificial intelligence. She holds many honours and accomplishments, including being named a Justice Emmet Hall Laureate in 2022, and member of the Canadian Council of Academies Scientific Advisory Committee in 2021, and a member of the Royal Society Taskforce on COVID-19 in 2021. She has over 100 publications and over 1200 citations, including publications on implementing digital passports for COVID-19 immunizations, vaccine ins and outs, the legal issues that have been raised in the presence of COVID-19, and accounts of what our country could look like post-pandemic.
Jocelyn Downie
Professor Emeritus, Faculties of Law and Medicine, Dalhousie University
Jocelyn Downie is the James S. Palmer Chair in Public Policy and Law at Schulich School of Law, and a member of the Order of Canada.
In 2004, she published "Dying Justice: A Case for Decriminalizing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada." She was selected to be a Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, and sat on the Experts Committee for Human Research Participant Protection in Canada. In 2010, Downie was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
In 2015, Downie was involved in the result of Carter v Canada, a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision where giving Canadian adults who are mentally competent and suffering intolerably and enduringly the right to a doctor's assistance in dying. She served as a Special Advisor to the Canadian Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide and worked with the pro bono legal team in the case. In the same year, Downie became the first scholar in Nova Scotia to be named a Trudeau Foundation Fellow.
Professor Downie has been the principal investigator on numerous research projects including a $1.8 million training program in health law and policy funded by CIHR and a $1.5 million CIHR grant in neuroethics.
She has served on many committees and boards. Professor Downie was a member of the Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying, the National Blood Safety Council, the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Committee on Population Health, and the Experts Committee for Human Research Participant Protection in Canada.
Bryan Thomas
Research Fellow, Queen's University Faculty of Law
Bryan Thomas is a Senior Research Fellow with Faculty of Law, Queen's University. His research spans a wide range of topics including Canadian and comparative health law and policy, health rights litigation, long-term care, global health law, the regulation of health AI, and the role of religious argument in legal and political discourse. Dr. Thomas holds an SJD from University of Toronto, a BCL/LLB from McGill Law, and a Master’s degree in philosophy from Dalhousie.
Alexandra Manthorpe
Partner, Wills & Estates, Cunningham Swan
Alexandra Manthorpe is a Partner in the Wills & Estates group at the Cunningham Swan law firm. Following a First Degree Honours undergraduate degree at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, she attended Queen’s Law in Kingston where she received a course prize (first place) for Wills & Estates, graduating in 2010.
Currently, her focus is estate and trust planning, business succession planning, and estate and trust administration. She enjoys working with clients to help them prepare for the future in order to protect themselves and provide for their loved ones in the best manner possible.
Other experts including:
- Cathy Szabo, Providence Care
- James Downar, University of Ottawa
- Daphne Gilbert, University of Ottawa
- Danielle Kain, Queen’s University
- Vanessa Gruben, University of Ottawa
- Tim Holland, Dalhousie University
- Lorian Hardcastle, University of Calgary