MAPS Canada
The Canadian counterpart to MAPS — supporting clinical trials and therapist training in the context of Health Canada's evolving psychedelic medicine access framework.
Type: Research
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Membership: Open — donor and supporter membership
Venues: Partner clinical sites across Canada
Activities: Canadian clinical trial support, therapist training for MDMA-assisted therapy, engagement with Health Canada's psilocybin and MDMA special access program, policy advocacy for Canadian psychedelic medicine access.
About
MAPS Canada is an independent Canadian organization affiliated with but operationally separate from the US-based MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies). MAPS Canada supports MDMA-assisted therapy and psilocybin clinical research in Canada, trains Canadian therapists in the MAPS-developed therapy protocols, and engages with Health Canada's special access program — which has allowed some Canadian patients with serious conditions to access psilocybin and MDMA outside of clinical trials.
Canada's regulatory environment has been more flexible than the US on psychedelic access at the margins: Health Canada's Section 56 exemptions and the Special Access Program have allowed dozens of terminally ill patients and registered therapists to access psilocybin and MDMA for therapeutic purposes since 2020. MAPS Canada has been involved in navigating this framework and helping qualified practitioners and patients understand and use these pathways.
As Australia's TGA approval (2023) and the global normalization of psychedelic medicine continue, MAPS Canada is positioning for a Canadian therapeutic goods regulatory approval that would open broader clinical access.
Why It Matters
Canada's existing special access framework for psilocybin and MDMA makes it one of the most permissive legal environments for clinical psychedelic access in the world — a fact that MAPS Canada is actively leveraging for both treatment and research.
