Bill 16 Changes to Assisted Living Legislation Consistent with BCLI / CCEL Recommendations
March 8, 2016
BY British Columbia Law Institute
Proposed amendments introduced in the Legislative Assembly yesterday in Bill 16, the Community Care and Assisted Living Amendment Act, 2016, are consistent with recommendations made by the British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) and Canadian Centre for Elder Law (CCEL) in a 2013 report.
“We are very pleased to see that a number of changes to the legal framework for assisted living that are proposed in Bill 16 are consistent with the recommendations developed by our expert committee,” said Kathleen Cunningham, Executive Director of BCLI and CCEL. “Our volunteer experts devoted an enormous amount of time and expertise to improving the legislation governing assisted living.”
Among the recommendations in the Report on Assisted Living in British Columbia published by BCLI and CCEL in 2013 were to repeal the restriction on assisted living residences limiting them to providing no more than two prescribed services. Bill 16 would remove this restriction. This will allow for a greater range of living and care options to residents and allow them to remain longer in the same apartment-style setting and retain much independence as possible.
Other recommendations included clarifying the mental status requirement for eligibility to enter and remain in assisted living, and amending the meaning of “spouse” in the Community Care and Assisted Living Act to include a person who has been in a marriage-like relationship with a resident for at least two years as well as a legally married spouse. Bill 16 would also make these legislative changes in terms that coincide closely with the recommendations in the BCLI / CCEL report.
The recommendations in the 2013 report were developed by an expert multidisciplinary committee representing a spectrum of stakeholders in assisted living, and were endorsed by BCLI / CCEL’s Board of Directors.
BCLI is an independent, not-for-profit law reform agency that strives to improve and modernize the law. CCEL is a division of BCLI dedicated to improving the lives of older adults in their relationship to the law.
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Contact:
Kathleen Cunningham
Executive Director
B.C. Law Institute and Canadian Centre for Elder Law
(604) 822-0142
[email protected]
