Your Legal Rights

Rights Advisors provide an independent and confidential service. Our role is to provide you with legal information about your rights under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act and to support you in understanding your options.

As we are not part of your treatment team, we are uninvolved in decisions regarding your involuntary certification. This means we are not involved in your involuntary admission, psychiatric treatment or matters related to your discharge.

Under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act, if you are certified as an involuntary patient, psychiatric treatment for your mental disorder can be provided without your consent. You still have the right to ask questions about the medication, including what it is for, the benefits, and possible side effects. You retain the right to refuse and/or consent to non-psychiatric medication.

Remember, that it is also your legal right to request a second medical opinion by submitting Form 11. Treatment must be medically appropriate and connected to your mental disorder. Your concerns and experiences matter, and you are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.

Voluntary admission refers to an individual that has willingly sought psychiatric treatment for their mental illness at a healthcare facility. Voluntary patients retain their legal right to refuse/consent to psychiatric medication and request to be discharged from the healthcare facility.

Involuntary admission occurs when a doctor or nurse practitioner determines that an individual meets all (4) of the involuntary admission criteria required for certification as an involuntary patient. When admitted as an involuntary patient, patients cannot refuse psychiatric treatment or leave the hospital without authorization while they are certified.

However, being involuntary does not mean losing all rights. Involuntary patients still have important legal protections.

The length of time you can be kept as an involuntary patient depends on the certification process set out in the Act (please refer to diagram below). Regardless, remember that it is your legal right to have a doctor reassess you regularly. You must be discharged from involuntary status as soon as a doctor believes you no longer meet all four of the involuntary admission criteria.

A doctor or nurse practitioner is responsible for assessing whether you meet the criteria under the MHA.

As an an involuntary patient, you have the right to ask questions and be involved in your treatment plan. If you disagree with your detention status as you believe you do not meet all four of the involuntary admission criteria, you have the right to apply for a review panel hearing (Form 7). You also have the right to speak with a lawyer at any time.

If you are an involuntary patient, You cannot leave the hospital without authorization (i.e. passess) while you are certified. If you are interested in the possibility of being an involuntary patient in community, please ask your treatment team about Extended Leave (EL).

• Extended Leave (Form 17 – Leave Authorization)
Your doctor may authorize you to live in the community under specific conditions (i.e. attending appointments or taking medication). This is referred to as 'extended leave.' On extended leave, you are still legally certified, but you are living in the community as an out-patient instead of being an in-patient in hospital.

EL patients are now able to book a Rights Advice meeting directly through our IRAS booking portal at the following link: IRAS Portal

Notification of a Near Relative (Form 15) If you are admitted involuntarily, the hospital must notify your “near relative” that you have been admitted. This is usually documented using Form 15: Notification to Near Relative. This notification typically confirms that you have been admitted and the name of the hospital. It does not automatically mean detailed medical information will be shared.

It’s common to feel anxious about who knows what. You have a voice in this. While the hospital has a legal duty to notify a near relative of an involuntary admission, your broader medical information remains protected. If family involvement feels supportive, staff can help include them. If it feels unsafe or unwanted, you can raise those concerns and ask about your options.