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 careChild (0-18) populationRate per 1000
10, 462926,02711.30

Statistics Links

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
Filter by Publication Date Range
Title Year
Review of Family Care Models, Wilderness Challenge, and Community Group Homes
Brodersen, Etta; Urquhart, Taryn; Pankatz, Courtney; Viljoen, Jodi
 2013
First Nations Child Welfare in British Columbia
Kozlowski, Anna; Sinha, Vandna; Hoey, Shawn; Lucas, Linda
 2012
Child protection decision making: A factorial analysis using case vignettes
Stokes, Jaqueline; Schmidt, Glen
 2012
British Columbia Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect - 2008 (BCIS-2008)
MacLaurin, Bruce; Trocmé, Nico; Fallon, Barbara; Sinha, Vandna; Douglas, Janet; Barker, Alison; Horvath, Scott; Hamilton, Laura; Gail, Jordan; Kitt, Olivia; Zelt, Carolyn; Fast, Elizabeth; Thomas-Prokop, Shelley; Hutcheon, Emily; Budgell, Danielle; Daoust, Gabrielle
 2011
Fragile Lives, Fragmented Systems: Strengthening Supports for Vulnerable Infants
Turpel-Lafond, Mary Ellen
 2011
Early specialized foster care, developmental outcomes and home salivary cortisol patterns in prenatally substance-exposed infants
D'Angiulli, Amedeo; Sullivan, Richard
 2010
Growing Up in B.C. - 2010
British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth; British Columbia Office of the Provincial Health Officer
 2010
Childhood trauma and injection drug use among high-risk youth
Kerr, Thomas; Stoltz, Jo-Anne; Marshall, Brandon; Lai, Calvin; Strathdee, Steffanie A.; Wood, Evan
 2009
Kids, Crime and Care – Health and Well-Being of Children in Care: Youth Justice Experiences and Outcomes
British Columbia Representative for Children and Youth
 2009
Recognition and Reconciliation Protocol on First Nations Children, Youth and Families
Province of British Columbia, the First Nations Summit, Union of BC;Indian Chiefs, the BC Assembly of First Nations
 2009
Legislation
Links