Politicians, physicians and patient advocates gathered at Toronto’s Royal Theatre Thursday to discuss the future of psychedelic-assisted therapy in Canada.
The screening of The Next Chapter, a documentary about older adults pursuing psilocybin-assisted therapy to address depression, anxiety, grief and unresolved trauma, drew a near-capacity crowd in the heart of Little Italy.
Among those in attendance were researchers, psychiatrists, clinicians and policymakers involved in Canada’s growing psychedelic therapy movement.
The event came just two days after Conservative MP Corey Tochor introduced a private member’s bill, known as Thomas’ Bill, that would expand access to psilocybin, a controlled substance under Canada’s federal drug laws.
“I knew a little about mushrooms when I was young, and I didn’t think that much of them as medicine. But it kicked off a journey of mine for the last three years,” Tochor told the audience during the screening event.
The bill is named after Thomas Hartle, a constituent in Tochor’s Saskatoon riding, who was diagnosed with stage-four cancer and used psilocybin to manage end-of-life anxiety during his cancer treatment.
Hartle received psilocybin-assisted treatment for about three years before losing access through Health Canada’s Special Access Program (SAP), forcing him to travel to the Caribbean several times a year to continue treatment.
“It’s not ‘Corey’s bill’, it’s ‘Thomas’ bill’, and I want everyone — when they get home tonight — to … learn a little bit more about this wonderful, wonderful individual that I only knew for a short period of time,” said Tochor.
If passed, the legislation would allow physicians to prescribe psilocybin and would place psilocybin-based therapies into Health Canada’s priority review pathway, requiring a regulatory decision within 180 days, with the aim of preventing similar disruptions in future patients’ access.
The Next Chapter
The Next Chapter documentary follows filmmaker Scott Paul Wright, who underwent a psilocybin retreat in Mexico at age 68. Wright later documented the experiences of other “young elders” seeking healing through psychedelic-assisted therapy.
The panel discussion that followed the screening highlighted ongoing frustrations with Canada’s regulatory system, where psychedelics remain illegal outside limited exemptions.
Among the speakers was Dr. Blake Pearson, a Canadian family physician who practices cannabinoid medicine and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. Pearson described his family’s unsuccessful effort to obtain legal access to psilocybin for his father, after he was diagnosed with a progressive lung disease.
Pearson said his father applied through Health Canada’s Special Access Program in 2024 but was denied access. He later obtained psilocybin outside the legal system.
Canadian Affairs has previously reported on how Canadian veterans seeking treatment for PTSD and brain injuries continue to face significant barriers to access. Some have sought treatment abroad or through underground channels, putting them at risk in some cases.
Mushroom dispensaries have also proliferated in major urban centres across Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, creating a growing grey market.
Access and equity
Canada’s cautious regulatory approach to psychedelic-assisted therapy may come under pressure to change, several speakers said at the event.
In May, the Trump administration accelerated the research and review of psychedelic drugs for mental illness, Canadian Affairs recently reported.
Tochor pointed to these developments as a possible sign of momentum.
“I’m very, very hopeful, especially with the announcement from our neighbours in the South, that the FDA will probably fast track three … [psychedelic] molecules later this year, if not early next year,” he said.
“[Canada is] a proud and very sovereign nation, and we’ll never be anything other than that. But we do follow a lot of the trends that come out of our neighbours to the South, so I am pretty certain that in the coming … months we’re going to have progress on this.”
But patient advocates at the event argued that legal reform alone will not guarantee equitable access.
Sumit Bhatia, an advisory board member with the Psychedelic Association of Canada, cautioned that Indigenous knowledge and traditions should not be sidelined as psychedelic therapies become increasingly medicalized.
“The reason why so many of us gravitate to that form of learning is because there’s a richness” in those traditions, he said, describing them as rooted in community, culture and spiritual connection rather than clinical research alone.
Bhatia also warned that without deliberate policy design, psychedelic therapies could become available primarily to those with financial means while vulnerable patients continue seeking treatment underground.
“I would hate to see a world where the wealthy get treatment, where the ones that are really desperate go underground, and then the rest of them are put on a wait list,” he said.
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