Province launches secure care for people with brain injury, mental illness, severe addiction

Press Release

Sept. 15, 2024

VANCOUVER – The Province is taking action to make sure people with long-term concurrent mental-health and addiction challenges get secure and dignified care by opening highly secure facilities for people under the Mental Health Act throughout the province, as well as secure treatment within BC Corrections.

The first correctional centre will be at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre. The first secure housing and care facility will be on the grounds of the Alouette Correctional Centre (Monarch Homes) in Maple Ridge, which only requires minor renovations to meet the security requirements for residents and the community. All of the facilities will provide involuntary care under the B.C. Mental Health Act for people certified as requiring that care.

“People with addiction challenges, brain injuries and mental-health issues need compassionate care and direct and assertive intervention to help them stabilize and rebuild a meaningful life,” said Premier David Eby. “This announcement is the beginning of a new phase of our response to the addiction crisis. We’re going to respond to people struggling like any family member would. We are taking action to get them the care they need to keep them safe, and in doing so, keep our communities safe, too.”

The Province is also building more than 400 mental-health beds at new and expanded hospitals in B.C. by modernizing approximately 280 outdated beds and adding more than 140 new mental-health beds, with more to come. All of these facilities will also provide involuntary care under the act.

In summer 2024, the Province appointed Dr. Daniel Vigo as B.C.’s first chief scientific adviser for psychiatry, toxic drugs and concurrent disorders. He is working with partners to find better ways to support the growing population of people with severe addictions, brain injuries from repeated drug poisonings, combined with mental-health disorders and psychosis. Often, these people are in and out of the correctional and health-care system without getting the care they need.

“The toxic-drug crisis of today is not what it was 10 or even five years ago,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “We are now facing a rising number of people who are living with the lasting effects of multiple overdoses and complex mental-health challenges, tied to social factors like poverty and trauma. It’s clear we must do more to provide effective care, while continuing to work with our partners to tackle the deadly poisoned-drug supply and bring an end to this suffering.”

The Province is announcing steps to put Vigo’s recommendations into action and ensure severely ill people get the care they need, even when they are unable to seek it themselves. These steps are:

establishing beds under the Mental Health Act at highly secure regional facilities, where people held under the Mental Health Act will receive long-term care and housing that is secure, safe and dignified. The first site will open in Maple Ridge in the coming months, with plans to expand throughout the province, scaled to meet the needs of communities. Other sites are being identified in northern B.C., the Interior, Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Patients from each community will be prioritized for those locations.
setting up a designated mental-health unit in a B.C. correctional centre to provide rapid treatment for people with mental-health and addiction challenges being held on remand or sentenced to custody by the courts, starting with a 10-bed facility at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre.
in the short-term, releasing clarifications from Vigo on how the Mental Health Act can be used to provide voluntary and involuntary care when people have concurrent disorders with addiction.
making changes to the law in the next legislative session to provide clarity and ensure that people, including youth, can and should receive care when they are unable to seek it themselves. These changes would be brought forward in consultation with First Nations and ensure culturally safe treatment programs and supports for First Nations youth.

The Province continues to increase the number of mental-health and psychiatric beds through provincewide capital health projects (hospital construction and expansion), along with the replacement of hundreds of older, inadequate beds. The Province understands the interest in Riverview as a site for expanded health-care services, including mental-health treatment. Riverview is located on land that is subject to an ongoing title claim from Kwikwetlem First Nation. The Province is in confidential discussions with the Nation to settle the claim, which includes a plan for the future development of the Riverview site.

“My office is analyzing all relevant provincial data to produce evidence-based recommendations to government in real time,” Vigo said. “This has already led to the creation of key services in corrections, secure treatment and housing for the patient population with the most severe behavioural challenges resulting from mental impairment. The whole system of care for mental health and addictions will be strategically integrated and scaled up based on local data and best practices.”

Since the federal government brought in Bill C-48, the Crown continues to see instances where detention is not granted in cases involving repeat violent offenders. In July 2024, Premier Eby led Canada’s premiers in calling on Ottawa to review the Criminal Code and bail system to ensure it is working to keep people and communities safe. In addition to calling for a review, the B.C. government is asking for Ottawa to amend the Criminal Code to deal explicitly with machetes, following recent violent incidents.

In addition, Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, has written to Ottawa urging the federal government to staff up the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) and federal RCMP to address the illegal distribution of poisoned drugs from B.C. ports. A 2023 City of Delta policing report by Peter German noted that it is believed that less than 2% of containers are imaged and less than 1% are physically searched. Federal decisions are expected to exacerbate the issue, with more than $250 million in planned CBSA cuts over the next three years.

“Since 2020, B.C. has seen a surge in the illicit domestic production of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, largely due to the importation of chemical precursors from China, which are being smuggled through Canadian ports,” Farnworth said. “Our ports should never be an enabling mechanism to move illegal cargo in and out of our province. It’s time the federal government increase funding, enforcement and investigations at Canadian ports because we are seeing, first-hand, the devastating impacts of organized-crime groups exploiting gaps in enforcement and federal legislation to facilitate the flow of precursor drugs into our province.”

The actions announced are part of the Province’s Safer Communities Action Plan and goal of creating safe, healthy communities for everyone. These actions also support the Province’s strategy to address the toxic-drug crisis and will build on the actions government is taking to expand access to mental-health and addictions care, including increasing early intervention and prevention, treatment and recovery services, supportive and complex-care housing, harm reduction and more.

Learn More:

To read a copy of the letter from Minister Mike Farnworth, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/671065%20Minister%20Leblanc%20(003).pdf

To read a copy of the letter from Niki Sharma, Attorney General, regarding machetes, visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/AG%20Letter.pdf

To learn more about Dr. Daniel Vigo’s past research, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/conducting-health-research/exploring-care-options-for-individuals-with-severe-substance-use-disorders-in-british-columbia.pdf

To learn how government is working to keep people and communities safe, visit: https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/safer-communities/

To learn how B.C. is building better mental-health and addiction care, visit: https://gov.bc.ca/BetterCare

Two backgrounders follow.

Contacts:

Office of the Premier
Media Relations
premier.media@gov.bc.ca

Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions
Communications
250 812-9118

Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General
Media Relations
778 405-3306

BACKGROUNDER 1

What people are saying about the facilities

Chief Grace George, Katzie First Nation –

“Katzie First Nation supports secure and dignified care for those with long-term mental-health and addiction challenges, including culturally safe and supportive space for healing. We have an opportunity to create meaningful, long-term change, and to address the barriers that exist in our region and province, and the impact of addiction, trauma and this horrific opioid epidemic. It’s a true gift to create opportunities for people to become their best selves.”

Chief Jen Thomas, Tsleil-Waututh Nation –

“We see and feel the impact of the toxic-drug crisis every day and the intertwining issues of mental illness, addiction, overdoses, homelessness and the legacy of colonialism. We have lost Tsleil-Waututh members dear to us recently, but the impact of the crisis affects all of us. Bringing these changes forward in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous Peoples, we can create a better system of care founded on dignity and compassion, while supporting people to make it to recovery.”

Chief Wayne Sparrow, Musqueam Indian Band –

“Musqueam is grateful for the collaboration and action by the Province to address the mental-health and addictions challenges that people of all walks of life are confronting. We have witnessed and mourned the impacts of the toxic-drug crisis in our community, and know that by prioritizing First Nations’ perspectives, knowledge and values, we can build effective and culturally safe strategies to support individuals, while also honouring their identities, cultures and inherent strengths.”

Ken Sim, mayor of Vancouver –

“This is an incredibly profound first step in addressing the mental-health and addictions crisis that Vancouverites and British Columbians have been grappling with. As we embark on this new chapter with mandatory care, we are extending a lifeline to those who need it most. We thank Premier Eby and all those involved for their work to make our communities safer for everyone.”

Dan Ruimy, mayor of Maple Ridge –

“The City is pleased to see the Province is looking at innovative ways to use existing facilities to address issues such as long-term brain injuries and mental-health challenges. We know the community has asked for better uses of space like Monarch Houses, and this is an opportunity to do so while we support those who need special care with this program.”

Contacts:

Office of the Premier
Media Relations
premier.media@gov.bc.ca

Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions
Communications
250 812-9118

Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General
Media Relations
778 405-3306

BACKGROUNDER 2

What to know about actions taken to curb drug trafficking

Going after gangs, guns and toxic drugs:

B.C. allocates $100 million annually into specialized enforcement and intelligence programs targeting guns, gangs and illicit-drug activities. In conjunction with federal/municipal partners, these are showing results.
In June 2024, Washington state and B.C. signed a memorandum of understanding at the Pacific Region Cross-Border Law Enforcement Forum acknowledging their shared interest in addressing issues of cross-border criminal activity, including organized crime.
B.C. provides ongoing funding and oversight over specialized anti-drug trafficking teams within the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit-B.C. In alignment with provincial standards, these units flag precursor chemicals for federal agencies. However, the federal process for scheduling precursors is insufficiently nimble.
B.C. provides more than $5 million each year to police through the Provincial Tactical Enforcement Priority program to go after individuals and gangs and to target those who deal deadly drugs like fentanyl.
Between 2020 and 2023, police seized more than 800 firearms, $10 million in illegal cash and assets, 1,800 kilograms of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals, and laid 750 charges.
This includes the largest drug seizure in Prince George history in August 2024 when police seized 40 kilograms of illicit drugs, 120,000 counterfeit cigarettes and $500,000 in cash.
Other major enforcement actions include a January 2024 drug seizure in Surrey in which a large quantity of drugs, cash, vehicles and firearms, including 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, 30 litres of GHB, 1.5 kilograms of cocaine and 430 grams of fluorofentanyal, were seized.
The Premier and Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, have continued to advocate for increased federal action to combat this problem, both in the media and in various federal, provincial and territorial forums.
Farnworth has spoken to chiefs of police who share concerns that organized crime groups are using ports to move contraband, including illicit and precursor drugs, into and out of Canada.

Other B.C. trends and actions:

In 2023, B.C.’s overall Criminal Code violation rate per 100,000 population was lower than it was in 2016, now the second lowest in Canada, and the gang-related homicide rate was down 28% year over year.
Hiring 256 more provincial police officers over three years to increase crime prevention and enforcement capabilities, especially in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, and on specialized teams that investigate serious and violent crimes. Ninety-three officers have been hired as of June 2024.
Creating integrated gang homicide investigation teams in the Lower Mainland to focus on investigating complex gang-related homicides and improve intelligence to disrupt gang activity and hold criminals accountable. The teams will reach full capacity by late 2024 or early 2025.
Cracking down on gangs and organized crime with unexplained wealth orders, a new tool to step up our efforts to seize profits of crime like fast cars, fancy homes and luxury goods, and using the proceeds to fund victims of crime and anti-racism/hate programs. This tool has been used four times.

Contacts:

Office of the Premier
Media Relations
premier.media@gov.bc.ca

Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions
Communications
250 812-9118

Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General
Media Relations
778 405-3306

ILR5