British Columbia

For more information, see the information sheet British Columbia's child welfare system.

Overview

In British Columbia, the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) provides child welfare services under the mandate of the Child, Family and Community Service Act (1996). The Child, Family, and Community Service Act (1996) was amended in 2018 to improve child welfare service delivery and intervention for Indigenous children and families, with the goal of reducing the over-representation of Indigenous children and youth within the province’s child welfare system.

Child protection services in British Columbia are provided through 429 ministry offices in 13 regions and 24 delegated Aboriginal agencies, which have varying levels of delegated responsibility according to the resources and capacity of each agency (Government of British Columbia, 2021). The Federal government is responsible for funding services to First Nations children and families living on-reserve. The Adoption Act (1996), Infants Act (1996), and the Representative for Children and Youth Act (2006), are other legal acts that relate to the well-being and protection of children in British Columbia.

Statistics

British Columbia: Children and youth in out-of-home care in 2022¹
Children in out-of-home care	Child (0-18) population	Rate per 1000
10, 462	926,027	11.30

Statistics Links

Ministry of Children and Family Development Reporting Portal

Child welfare services fall under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial authorities, making it difficult to compile statistics at the national level.

The most notable variations between provinces include, mandate variation by jurisdiction with respect to the age to which children are eligible for service, differences in the length of time a child can receive out-of-home care and the definition of out-of-home care.

References

¹ Pollock, N., Ouédraogo, A., Trocmé, N., Hovdestad, W., Miskie, A., Crompton, L., Campeau, A., Tanaka, M., Zhang, C., Laprise, C., Tonmyr, L. (2024). Original quantitative research – Rates of out-of-home care among children in Canada: an analysis of national administrative child welfare data. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada (44)4. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.44.4.02.

Publications

Title	Authors	Year
Profile of Children and Youth in the Downtown Eastside Report	British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development	2016
Provincial/Territorial Protocol On Children, Youth and Families Moving Between Provinces and Territories	Government of British Columbia Government of Alberta Government of Manitoba Government of Saskatchewan Government of New Brunswick Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Government of Nova Scotia Government of Prince Edward Island Government of Northwest Territories Government of Nunavut Government of Yukon Government of Ontario	2016
Ten Years of Advocacy: Annual Report 2015/16 and Service Plan 2016/17–2017/18	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2016
The manifest and latent functions of differential response in child welfare	Ji, Daniel Sullivan, Richard	2016
The Placement of Children and Youth in Care in Hotels in British Columbia: A Joint Special Report	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth British Columbia Ministry of Children and Family Development	2016
Too Many Victims Sexualized Violence in the Lives of Children and Youth in Care: An Aggregate Review	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2016
A Report and Next Steps for Action from A Forum for Change: Reconciliation for Today’s First Nations, Métis & Aboriginal Children Through Custom Adoption and Lifelong Family and Tribal Connections	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2015
Aboriginal policy and practice framework in British Columbia: A pathway towards restorative policy and practice that supports and honours Aboriginal peoples’ systems of caring, nurturing children and resiliency.	Government of British Columbia	2015
B.C. Adoption Update: April 2015	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2015
Critical Injuries and Deaths: Reviews and Investigations Update #23	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2015

Legislation

Links