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
Critical Injuries and Deaths: Reviews and Investigations Update #25	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2015
Growing up in B.C. - 2015	Representative for Children and Youth British Columbia Office of the Provincial Health Officer	2015
Paige’s Story: Abuse, Indifference and A Young Life Discarded	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2015
Wrapping our Ways Around Them: Aboriginal Communities and the Child, Family and Community Service Act (CFCSA) Guidebook	Walkem, Ardith	2015
2013/14 Annual Report and 2014/15–2015/16 Service Plan: Representative for Children and Youth	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2014
Advancing Best Practice: A Review of Full Time Attendance Programs for Youth in British Columbia	Barnett, Paul Howell, Stephen	2014
B.C. Adoption Update: November 2014	British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth	2014
Brief Report on Education: Based on the Link Program Evaluation Study	Hubberstey, Carol Rutman, Deborah Hume, Sharon	2014
Brief Report on Income and Employment: Based on the Link Program Evaluation Study	Hubberstey, Carol Rutman, Deborah Hume, Sharon	2014
Brief Report on Supports Accessed by Youth from Care: Based on the Link Program Evaluation Study	Hubberstey, Carol Rutman, Deborah Hume, Sharon	2014

Legislation

Links