Province confirms Prince George as site of new involuntary care facility

“Today, I’m pleased to announce that, with Doctor Vigo and the relevant health authorities, that we will be opening at this site a 70-bed involuntary care mental health facility to serve the people of the North,” Eby said during the announcement.

The project represents the latest step in the province’s controversial but expanding involuntary care strategy, which aims to provide treatment for individuals whose severe mental illness and addiction-related disorders prevent them from voluntarily seeking help.

The promise of a Prince George involuntary care facility first became public during the Union of British Columbia Municipalities annual general meeting in September 2025.

At that gathering, Eby announced that the province had identified locations for the next phase of involuntary care expansion.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that we have identified sites in Prince George and Surrey to open the next two involuntary care facilities in the province of B.C., adding around 100 more beds,” he said at the time.

The commitment was reiterated several months later when the provincial budget was introduced.

“B.C. is opening 100 more involuntary care beds in Surrey and Prince George to support people with complex needs,” Finance Minister Brenda Bailey stated while outlining the province’s spending plans.

Friday’s announcement confirms not only the location of the northern facility but also its role within the province’s broader mental health strategy.

According to provincial officials, the centre will primarily serve people whose severe mental disorders, often linked to addiction and brain injury, leave them unable to seek or accept treatment voluntarily.

The legal authority for involuntary admission already exists under British Columbia’s Mental Health Act. Patients can only be admitted after being assessed by physicians who determine they meet specific criteria.

Dr. Daniel Vigo, B.C.’s Chief Scientific Advisor for Psychiatry, explained that involuntary care is intended for a small but highly vulnerable population.

“The criteria are that the person has a mental disorder that is very severe and interferes with their relationship with others, or with the environment,” Vigo said.

“That puts that person at risk and puts others at risk because of that behaviour. And there’s a risk of serious mental or physical deterioration. And the person is unable to access services voluntarily.”

Provincial officials have repeatedly emphasized that involuntary care is not intended as a broad solution for addiction but rather a specialized intervention for people whose conditions have become so severe that they cannot recognize their need for treatment.

The facilities will include clinical care, treatment programming and rehabilitation services intended to stabilize patients and help them transition into appropriate longer-term supports.

Mental health professionals in Prince George have long argued that local hospitals are not designed to manage patients requiring extended psychiatric care.

Dr. Barbara Kane, a longtime psychiatrist in the city, welcomed the announcement and said the new facility should help relieve pressure throughout the health system.

“It’s not the best place for them,” Kane said, referring to patients with severe mental health and addiction challenges who end up staying in hospital wards.

“But then when they stay on our ward, it means other patients who need the shorter stays can’t get on our wards. They end up on surgery or medicine, and then it gets harder for patients to get on those wards.”

Health-care leaders say the lack of specialized beds has created a cascading effect throughout hospitals, with psychiatric patients often occupying acute-care beds for extended periods because there are few appropriate places for them to go.

Vigo said creating dedicated treatment spaces will help improve the flow of patients across the entire health-care system.

“This means that timely referrals to a first approved home unit free up 40,000 hospital bed days and improve patient flow that benefits a minimum of 110 additional patients who can in turn receive care in a timely manner,” he said.

Supporters of the initiative argue the benefits extend well beyond mental health care, helping free capacity within emergency departments, medical units and surgical wards.

The announcement is also being viewed as a major victory for local leaders who have spent years lobbying Victoria for more resources to address mental health, addictions and public safety concerns.

Prince George Mayor Simon Yu said the investment represents a substantial increase in specialized mental health capacity across British Columbia.

“Altogether it will be 400 additional beds to the mental health beds that we have in the province,” Yu said.

“And then those powers will include some involuntary care. So this is very much a big, huge step.”

Prince George has frequently found itself at the centre of discussions about addiction, homelessness and mental health services in northern communities.

Local officials have consistently argued that residents requiring intensive psychiatric supports are often forced to travel long distances for treatment or remain in facilities that are not equipped to handle their complex needs.

The new centre is intended to address those gaps by creating a northern hub capable of serving patients from across the region.

While the facility will be located in Prince George, provincial officials indicated it will serve people throughout Northern B.C., reducing the need for affected individuals and their families to travel to southern parts of the province for care.

The future involuntary care centre will be housed within the current Youth Containment Centre on Gunn Road, a facility that has historically served a different purpose within the provincial justice system.

The site currently contains approximately 60 beds, but renovations will expand capacity to 70 beds and adapt the building to meet health-care standards.

According to the province, work to transform the facility is already underway.

“The contracting is already underway for the improvements that are necessary,” Eby said.

“And our goal is to have these open and fully operating in the next 18 to 24 months.”

Construction and renovation work will focus on converting the facility into a therapeutic environment capable of supporting intensive treatment and rehabilitation programming.

The project’s timeline means the Prince George centre could begin accepting patients sometime within the next two years if construction proceeds as planned.

The Prince George and Surrey projects form part of a wider effort by the province to expand mental health treatment capacity.

Officials noted that the new beds will build on more than 2,000 existing mental health beds already operating throughout British Columbia. Many of those beds are also authorized to provide care to individuals admitted involuntarily under the Mental Health Act.

The province has recently added capacity through facilities such as the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre and Spiritwood Homes in Maple Ridge.

Government representatives say continued expansion is necessary to meet growing demand and address service gaps for patients with highly complex needs.

At the same time, the province said it is continuing to evaluate opportunities for future involuntary care and mental health bed expansion in other regions.

“Work is also underway to assess future bed capacity in other regions of B.C.,” the province stated.

While Friday’s announcement was welcomed by many health-care professionals and local officials, involuntary care remains a subject of debate among advocates, clinicians and civil liberties organizations.

Supporters argue the approach provides a pathway to treatment for individuals whose illnesses prevent them from recognizing their need for care and who often cycle through emergency rooms, shelters, correctional facilities and the streets.

Critics have raised concerns about individual rights and the potential for involuntary treatment to be overused.

The province maintains that strict legal and medical safeguards will govern admissions and that only people meeting the requirements of the Mental Health Act will be eligible for involuntary care.

For now, provincial officials are emphasizing the need for specialized treatment spaces capable of addressing a population they say is currently slipping through the cracks.

With renovations now beginning and construction contracts already in place, Prince George is set to become a key part of British Columbia’s evolving approach to mental health and addictions care — a development local leaders say has been years in the making and one they hope will provide meaningful relief for patients, families and the broader health-care system.

by Cheryl Jahn

Province confirms Prince George as site of new involuntary care facility

What's Trending