Health Canada denied 21 psilocybin access requests in 2024 as veterans seek PTSD treatment
Veterans with PTSD are increasingly looking for non-pharmaceutical treatment options including psilocybin.
Health Canada denied 21 requests for psilocybin through its Special Access Program in 2024, according to figures provided in response to a parliamentary question from Conservative MP Matt Strauss. That was the highest annual denial count in the figures supplied. The department received 177 requests that year, up from 71 in 2022. Applications fell to 109 in 2025, a decline of 38 percent from the peak.
The program allows health practitioners to request access to restricted drugs for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions when conventional treatments have failed, are unsuitable or are unavailable. Veterans seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression are among those pressing for access to psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Health Canada approved 119 psilocybin requests in 2024 and 51 in 2025. Requests for MDMA also rose, from 16 in 2022 to 54 in 2024, before falling to 33 in 2025; one MDMA request was denied in 2024. The 2026 figures cover only part of the year and cannot yet be compared with full-year totals
Retired Canadian Armed Forces master corporal Scott Atkinson, who served in Afghanistan and Bosnia, told the Calgary Herald he hoped to obtain legal, supervised psilocybin therapy for PTSD.
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Bureau Chief, member of the board of directors, and host of The Gunn Show at Rebel News. Sheila also serves as President of the Independent Press Gallery of Canada. A mother of three and longtime conservative activist, Sheila is the author of bestselling books, including her most recent release, Independence Blueprint: What Alberta Can Learn From Quebec.
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