Mental Health & Addiction Treatment Act
Category: Health — Health
Summary
Triple capacity for publicly funded addiction treatment and create a mental health crisis response system.
What this proposal changes
- Triples the number of publicly funded addiction treatment beds from approximately 500 to 1,500 within three years.
- Creates a provincially coordinated mental health crisis response system with 24/7 mobile teams as an alternative to police response.
- Establishes co-response training for police and mental health professionals for situations requiring both.
- Funds peer-support worker certification and integration into the formal healthcare system.
Arguments for
- BC's addiction treatment system has a fraction of the capacity needed to address the overdose crisis; tripling capacity is a necessary step.
- Mobile crisis response teams in other jurisdictions have reduced emergency department visits, police calls, and hospitalisation for mental health presentations.
- Peer support workers — people with lived experience — are consistently shown to be the most effective bridge between services and people who distrust the system.
Arguments against
- Tripling bed capacity requires training hundreds of addiction counsellors and nurses; workforce pipeline constraints may delay actual openings.
- Mobile crisis teams require complex operational integration with police and health authorities across different funding and governance structures.
- Treatment capacity alone does not address the social determinants — housing, income, trauma — that drive addiction.
Cost & implementation
Treatment bed expansion: $250–500 million capital plus $150–300 million annual operating. Crisis response system: $80–150 million annually. Peer support integration: $30–60 million.
Jurisdiction & legal authority
Fully within provincial healthcare jurisdiction. Federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act governs prescription practices. BC's current decriminalisation pilot operates under a federal Section 56 exemption.
How to vote
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