The Province is taking action to improve care for young people who suffer from severe, overlapping mental-health and substance-use challenges by providing guidance about how involuntary care can be provided for people younger than 19, when they are unable or unwilling to seek care themselves.

The Province is completing the transition to new witnessed dosing requirements to address the diversion of prescribed alternatives, while maintaining access to the program for people who need it.

The Province is introducing proposed amendments to the Mental Health Act to strengthen and protect mental-health care in B.C. and improve supports for people who suffer from severe, overlapping mental-health and substance-use challenges.

New minimum standards for overdose prevention services are being introduced to enhance safety, improve consistency, and ensure greater oversight for clients, staff delivering life-saving services and members of the community.

New care beds at Alouette Homes will soon support more people requiring long-term involuntary care with a safe, home-like setting and specialized care that meets their unique needs.

New clinical guidance will offer best practices for recognizing and supporting people at risk for suicide, helping more people get the right care and saving more lives.

Josie Osborne, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, have issued the following statements marking the ninth anniversary of the toxic-drug crisis being declared a public health emergency: