Legislation and standards relating to social workers in BC
Legislation and regulations can help guide practice and decision making. They are a useful starting point when exploring practice issues and ethical dilemmas.
BC Social Workers Act
The Social Workers Act was assented to May 29, 2008 to legislate the formation of a professional College of Social Workers. The Act protects the use of the title Social Worker under law.
View the BC Social Workers Act
BC Social Workers Regulation
The Social Workers Regulation exempts some social workers in BC from registering with BCCSW. BCASW has advocated to remove the regulation. In 2012, BCCSW was successful in removing all Health Authority social workers from the Regulation, meaning all Health Authority social workers must be registered and have oversight by BCCSW.
View the BC Social Workers Regulation
BC College Standards of Practice and Guidance
The College adopts standards of practice that describe the minimum acceptable level of performance for social workers in BC. Social workers are written into law through the BC Social Workers Act and specifically referenced in many other pieces of BC legislation.
Medical Assistance in Dying and the Adult Guardianship Act are examples addressed in the practice guidance section on the BCCSW website.
View BCCSW standards and guidance
Research ethics and standards
BCCSW Standards of Practice include considerations for research participants, social work research, data collection, social work records, and disclosure of information. The Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans is a helpful resource for social work researchers.
Medical Assistance in Dying
On March 17, 2021, changes to Canada’s medical assistance in dying law came into force, including changes to eligibility, procedural safeguards, and the federal data collection and reporting regime.
BC Lobbyist Transparency Act
The BC government published the Lobbyists Transparency Regulation in November 2019. The regulation came into force on May 4, 2020. The statute changed from the Lobbyists Registration Act to the Lobbyists Transparency Act and a new BC Lobbyists Registry replaced the former registry.
View the Lobbyists Transparency Act
Relevant to health-care social workers, partial list
- Patient’s Property Act
- Infants Act
- Health Care (Consent) and Care Facility (Admission) Act
- Representation Agreement Act
- Public Guardian and Trustee Act
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
- Child, Family and Community Service Act
- Community Living Authority Act
- Mental Health Act
- Adult Guardianship Act regulations
- Power of Attorney Act