B.C. acting to reduce liability for health-care workers providing involuntary care

B.C. acting to reduce liability for health-care workers providing involuntary care

Published 1:15 pm Monday, November 24, 2025

The B.C. government is introducing legislation to provide workers who care for involuntarily held patients with stronger legal protections.

Premier David Eby said health-care workers need that protection to treat patients because of an ongoing Charter challenge. This legislation updates a section of the Mental Health Act to reduce liability, regardless of the result of that court case.

“This section is about immunizing the healthcare workers, protecting the healthcare workers who deliver this care, from being sued,” Eby said.

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities filed the legal challenge nearly a decade ago, aiming to prevent the province from being able to force patients to take medication or undergo electroshock therapy.

At issue in that case is the Mental Health Act’s “deemed consent” provision, which says that if a patient meets the qualifications to be held involuntarily, they are considered to have automatically agreed to psychiatric treatments.

The new legislation does not impact the types of care that can be provided; it simply addresses the liability providers may face when filling out consent forms for these patients.

Basically, providers must fill out a form that says the person consented to treatment, even if that is “deemed consent,” not actual verbal or written consent.

Eby said that this legislation will protect workers if the court rules that “deemed consent” is a violation of patients’ Charter rights.

“It just provides healthcare workers with the certainty that regardless of the outcome of this legal case, they will be protected in delivering this care,” he said. “Because we think they need that certainty going forward.”

Final arguments in the Charter challenge case were made in court last week, but Eby said additional presentations would be needed in light of the new legislation.

“So the court is able to consider it and so the sides are able to put their best positions forward,” Eby said.

Health Minister Josie Osborne introduced the legislation to make the change on Monday, Nov. 24. She defended the need to provide involuntary care to people who are a risk to themselves or others.

“Ultimately, our goal here in British Columbia is to ensure that people are getting the help that they need when and where they need it,” she said.