In April, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order to accelerate the research and review of psychedelic drugs for medical treatment.
The goal is to help people with serious mental illnesses, including military veterans, to access treatment faster. The government is putting US$50-million towards this research.
Meanwhile, in Canada, regulatory caution persists. Most psychedelic therapies remain confined to clinical trials and limited treatment programs even as demand grows.
“I’d like to think that [the U.S.’s] decision will add to the chorus of voices in Canada who are advocating for more research and more access to psychedelics,” said David Fascinato, a veteran and the executive director of Heroic Hearts Project Canada, a charity that connects veterans with psychedelic therapy.
“But ultimately, I’m not sure if these developments will have any impact on the regulatory system.”
Underground psychedelic therapy
Psychedelics are hallucinogenic substances that alter people’s perceptions, mood and thought processes. Common psychedelics include psilocybin (known as magic mushrooms), MDMA, ketamine, ibogaine and ayahuasca.
Studies have shown psychedelics can loosen deeply ingrained thought patterns, making patients more open to processing difficult emotions or memories. In psychedelic therapy, patients use psychedelics in clinical settings and work with therapists to process their experiences.
In Canada, psychedelic substances are largely off-limits to the public.
This results in many veterans seeking treatment for PTSD or brain injuries abroad or underground, a study by the University of Calgary and Heroic Hearts Canada has shown.
“If [veterans] don’t have a door to walk through, they’re going to create a door,” said Fascinato.
But accessing psychedelics outside of regulated systems carries risks.
“[F]olks who go out on their own, without support from a mental health professional … and just going at it alone — they are having potentially adverse experiences … [that can] set people back,” said Fascinato.
This underscores the need for structured care, he said.
“We’d actually rather work with accredited institutions and a care bubble … and not just go off and do mushrooms in the forest,” he said. “We need a system and a structure of pre- and post-care … within a safe, regulated pathway.”
Legal access
In Canada, researchers and health-care professionals can get regulatory approval to use certain psychedelics in clinical trials or to treat conditions that have been resistant to other treatments.
But sources say the process for obtaining approval is arduous.
Olga Chernoloz, a neuroscientist and clinical pharmacologist at the University of Ottawa, helped establish ketamine-assisted clinical trials in Canada in 2020-21.
“It was difficult,” she said about the approval process. “We would … [need] rounds and rounds of meetings [to determine] who would put their signature under this.”
“Regulators are still rather apprehensive,” she added. “Everyone is looking for someone else whose experience could be followed and pointed towards.”
Fascinato notes there are numerous bottlenecks in the approval processes.
“It’s a labyrinthine, bureaucratic process that continuously changes every three months,” he said.
“[The federal access program] is just creating a backlog and challenges broadly for those who are struggling,” he said.
U.S. executive order
Fascinato says there has been little progress on expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapy in Canada, despite some groups’ repeated recommendations for change.
Fascinato says the U.S. executive order is unlikely to change Canadian regulation, but it could have an impact “on the ground.”
“The decision in the U.S. will only serve to energize our community, emboldening us to forge ahead and to take the initiative to build the pathways necessary for research and safe access to happen,” he said.
Canadian experts and research are already used in psychedelic training initiatives and trauma-care programs abroad. This includes emerging work with Ukrainian soldiers and veterans, Canadian Affairs reported in December.
In March 2026, Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski introduced a private member’s bill that seeks to reduce bureaucratic delays for clinicians seeking psychedelic-assisted therapies.
And Fascinato is working to launch a government-funded pilot program for veterans that would provide psychedelic therapy while collecting evidence to inform future policy.
For Fascinato, it is important not to lose sight of the stakes. He predicts demand for psychedelic therapy will only grow as Canada dramatically boosts defence spending.
“I think of the 18-year-old kid who just joined the army … who’s just so gung ho and ready to go train, serve and join the Canadian Armed Forces, and join the community that I represent,” said Fascinato.
“I’ve lived on the back end of that for the last decade, [experiencing] the challenges, and the frustrations, and the anger, and the let-downs, and the layers of moral injury.
“It’s hard to square that circle and say, with hand over heart, to that young guy that it is all going to be all right.”
