BC Employment & Assistance Policy & Procedure Manual

Welcome to the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) Policy and Procedure Manual.

The BCEA Policy and Procedure Manual is a one-stop source for all BCEA policy, procedure and program information.

BCEA policy and procedure information is organized by Category. Each Category has a set of Policy Topics. To view an expanded list of available Policy Topics, click on the appropriate Category.

Topics provide related content such as an overview, policies, procedures, and links to relevant acts, regulations, contacts, rate tables and resources.

For more information on how to use the BCEA Policy and Procedure Manual, please visit our Navigation & Search Tips page.

 

What's New

Effective: April 1, 2019

Rate Tables

Income assistance, disability assistance and hardship assistance support rates have been increased $50 for a single person or for a single parent family and $100 for a couple or a two parent family.

OIC #079 (B.C. Reg. 32/2019)  amended the Employment and Assistance Regulation and Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation.

Compliance & Debt Management

Changes have been made to support consistent and reliable service.  Topic was updated to incorporate:

  • Plain language
  • Specification of the duty to accommodate policy and how it applies to reviews
  • Information request timelines
  • Simplified review procedures.

Effective: February 27, 2019

Case Administration

General Supplements & Programs

Upcoming policy changes for T5007 tax slip reporting include:

  • Seniors Supplement T5007 tax slip reporting 
  • Bus Pass for low income seniors (effective for subject tax year 2018)

Effective: February 11, 2019

Eligibility 

Hardship Assistance

The Memorial Grant Program for First Responders is exempt as income and an asset for the purposes of determining eligibility for income assistance, disability assistance, and hardship assistance.

OIC #047 (B.C. Reg. 19/2019)  amended the Employment and Assistance Regulation and Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation.

Effective: February 5, 2019

Health Supplements & Programs

A new topic has been created for breathing devices for easier access to this information. As well, there are now contracted suppliers for CPAP devices.

Effective: February 1, 2019

Case Administration

Changes have been made to referring recipients to Third Party Administration (TPA), providing services to recipients while they are third partied and returning recipients from TPA.

Compliance & Debt Management

When a client has an overpayment for ministry error, they may have an estoppel defence. If an estoppel defence is confirmed recovery of the overpayment is resolved.

This policy update explains the criteria for staff to determine if a client may have an estoppel defence for a ministry error overpayment.

Effective: December 1, 2018

General Supplements & Programs

Policy has been changed to increase the monthly limit on the Crisis Supplement for Food from $20 to $40 per person.

To ensure that recipients can receive the additional amount, policy has been changed to adjust the overall annual limit for crisis supplements.