Human rights commissioner Kasari Govender’s latest progress update on detentions for vulnerable people under the Adult Guardianship Act shows that only some of the first five recommendations have been fully implemented.
The Office of the Human Rights Commissioner released the first progress report on Thursday (April 16) to assess uptake on the recommendations from the 2025 report into the inquiry of detentions under the Adult Guardianship Act. The report was released in April 2025, and the inquiry was launched in November 2023.
The 2025 report revealed that detentions under the Adult Guardianship Act contained serious human rights issues, including a lack of transparency, oversight, and respect for the right to fair process.
The act permits designated agencies, such as health authorities, to provide emergency assistance to adults who appear to be abused or neglected and seem incapable of giving or refusing consent to receive care. Those agencies have detained many adults in hospitals or care facilities.
Govender’s progress report found that the designated authorities have all made some progress on implementing the inquiry’s recommendations, including some addressing the number and duration of detentions, and all updating their training materials and practice directives.
But Govender’s report also finds that some agencies have detained more people and for longer periods of time. As a result, Govender found that the agencies hadn’t yet aligned their practices with the immediate recommendations to ensure the rights of those detained under the Adult Guardianship Act are upheld.
In her report, Govender said she recognized the “challenging fiscal situation” the provincial government and public agencies are facing, but “an individual’s ability to exercise their rights should not be limited by budgetary constraints.”
The progress update looked at five recommendations from the 2025 report. The timeframe for these recommendations was from April to Sept. 30, 2025.
Recommendations for the agencies under the Health Ministry
Recommendations 1a and 1b related to the Health Ministry and seven of its designated agencies: Vancouver Coastal, Fraser, Interior, Vancouver Island and Northern health authorities, Providence Health Care and Community Living BC.
The first recommendation, 1a, called for designated agencies to immediately stop detaining adults for longer than is required to address the immediate risk of serious harm or death unless a support and assistance order has been obtained that authorizes the detention.
The report found that five of the seven agencies had fully implemented the recommendation, while the two remaining had partially implemented the recommendation.
The second recommendation, 1b, called on all detained adults to promptly receive written reasons for being detained, which must be accessible and trauma informed; include all less intrusive options that were explored before the adult was detained; include both the factual and legal basis for the detention; and include information on how to challenge the detentionitself, as well as the conditions of the detention.
Govender found that regarding the written reasons, three of the designated agencies have fully implemented the change, two have partially implemented it, and the remaining two didn’t detain anyone in the timeframe.
Recommendations for the Ministry of the Attorney General
Recommendations 2a and 2b were directed at the Ministry of the Attorney General.
Recommendation 2a called for the attorney general to take immediate steps to extend the Mental Health Act rights information service to adults detained under the Adult Guardianship Act, including through the provision of adequate funding.
Recommendation 2b called on the ministry, by Aug. 31, 2025, to ensure the rights information service in 2a was extended to provide legal advice by lawyers or otherwise ensure that adults have immediate access to legal advice as needed.
The report found the Ministry of the Attorney General had not implemented the first recommendation, while 2b was in progress. Govender called them “non-negotiable rights meant to safeguard liberty and self-determination.”
In an emailed statement to Black Press Media, Attorney General Niki Sharma said that while the government “agrees with the intent” of recommendation 2a, the Mental Health and the Adult Guardianship acts are “distinct statutory regimes, and the rights and procedures under them are different, as are the needs and circumstances of the client populations.”
She added that developing a rights information service for adults under the Adult Guardianship Act would “require a range of research, engagement, and policy development specific to the statutory regime and the client population.”
The ministry says that work is underway to explore policy options for improving access to rights information for adults.
For recommendation 2b, Sharma said that while Legal Aid BC does not have a designated program to provide representation for Adult Guardianship Act proceedings, it provides legal advice on steps an adult can take to facilitate their release. It also provides legal representation for habeas corpus applications, court proceedings related to support and assistance orders, and occasional judicial reviews of designated agency decisions.
Recommendations for the Health Ministry
The eighth recommendation was directed at the Health Ministry and called for the ministry, in collaboration with the seven designated agencies, to assess which community-based resources are required to reduce the number of detentions of adults. Once those services were determined, the report called on them to be adequately funded to ensure that detention is only used as a last resort.
Govender’s progress report found that the Health Ministry hadn’t implemented the recommendation, which required monitoring whether and to what extent under-resourcing of community-based services leads to more or longer detentions.
A statement from the Health Ministry pointed to investments into the healthcare system – $3.5 billion since 2018/19 in primary care and community-based services to expand and improve care for older adults across B.C.