Government introduced the attorney general statutes amendment act (No. 2), 2025, in the legislative assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025.

If passed by the legislature, the amendments will affect the following provincial statutes:

Public Guardian and Trustee Act:

When the Public Guardian and Trustee of British Columbia (PGT) is property guardian for children, it works to protect their legal and financial interests.

The proposed amendments to the Public Guardian and Trustee Act will outline when the PGT may act as property guardian and strengthen the protection of the legal and financial interests of children for whom the PGT is property guardian by establishing a more comprehensive and consistent statutory framework. The changes will enhance information-sharing, improve clarity and address gaps in the current framework and other practical challenges faced by the PGT.

The amendments will also help ensure that public property guardianship services are available to all children in receipt of child and family services, regardless of whether the services are provided by the Province or by Indigenous authorities that have requested PGT services.

Insurance (Vehicle) Act:

The proposed Insurance (Vehicle) Act (IVA) amendments ensure that the Province retains reimbursements made by ICBC since the early 1970s for health-related services arising out of vehicle accidents. The amendments support the longstanding practice that every B.C. government since the early 1970s has asked ICBC, as the insurer of those who caused accidents or engaged in activity that elevated the risk of accidents, to contribute to health-care costs. 

The proposed IVA amendments will protect taxpayers by establishing a valid retroactive tax that ensures no funds would need to be paid as a result of litigation challenges to the reimbursement practice. Courts have recognized this use of retroactive taxation as a valid, constitutional way for governments to respond to these types of claims. 

The amendments do not require any funds to change hands. No new funds will be paid by ICBC or its insureds to the Province under this new, retroactive tax.    

The bill also stops reimbursements by ICBC to the Province going forward, as government looks to explore other models of funding health-care costs.  

The amendments do not impact the accident benefits that individuals injured in accidents receive and will not affect basic vehicle-insurance rates. 

This legislation follows amendments to the IVA passed in 2021, which provided retroactive validation for the agreements that ICBC entered into with the Province to reimburse government for costs of health-related services arising out of vehicle accidents. 

In 2020, then attorney general David Eby introduced legislation to ensure all surpluses remain with ICBC to be used for the benefit of drivers and prevent any future provincial government from using ICBC’s excess optional insurance capital to lower its own borrowing requirements, while eroding ICBC’s financial position. 

On average, since government enacted major ICBC reforms, customers with full ICBC basic and optional coverage saved on average $490 on their insurance with the implementation of the Enhanced Care model compared to their premiums in the old model, and eligible basic customers received $640 in five separate rebates, totalling approximately $2.7 billion. 

Learn More:

For more information about B.C. legislation, visit: https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/Legislation