BC Employment and Assistance Policy and Procedure Manual

The BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) Policy and Procedure Manual is a one-stop source for ministry service delivery, of all BCEA policy, procedure and program information.

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 and search tips page.

What's New

Category: Employment Programs, Planning and Exemptions

Employability related topics have been streamlined and updated for ease of use and understanding for the public and staff.

Effective Date: July 20, 2026

The Determining Clients with no Employability-Related Obligations and Employability Plans have been restructured to

• Establishing Employability Obligations

• Employability Plans

Effective Date: July 20, 2026

Non-Ministry Funded Employment Programs and Services, WorkBC Employment Services, Self-Employment Program (SEP) for PPMB and PWD topics have been consolidated to

• Employability Supports

Category: Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers

Topic: Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers (PPMB)

Effective Date: July 20, 2026

Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers have been moved to its own category.

Category: Eligibility

Topic: Education & Training

Effective Date: July 20, 2026

The Education & Training topic has been updated.

Category: Application & Intake 

Topic: Application & Intake, BCEA Application - Stage 1, BCEA Application - Stage 2, BCEA Streamlined Application (Returning within Six Months), Orientation, Immediate Needs, Two-Year Financial Independence,  Identification Requirements, Underage Applicants

Effective date: July 20, 2026

The Application & Intake category was reviewed as a whole, and all topics were revised, with the exception of Work Search and Citizenship topics. Revisions were made to remove duplication and improve clarity, flow, and accessibility. No policy changes were made.

Topic changes include the following: revised titles of the included topics, removed and consolidated topics, revised Policy and Procedure sections of the topics, and reordered left-hand side menu.

UPDATED MENU AND TOPIC NAMES (details of reorganization below)

• Application for Assistance
  • Application Requirements
  • Eligibility Assessment
  • Effective Date of Eligibility – Original Decision
  • Underage Applicants
  • Underage PWD Applicants
  • Identification Requirements
  • Immediate Needs
  • Work Search (out of scope, no changes to topic content)
  • Streamlined Application
  • MSO Recipients Requesting Financial Assistance

• Eligibility
  • Absent from BC
  • Assets and Exemptions
  • Education & Training
  • Eligibility Review
  • Citizenship and Residency Requirements (out of scope, no changes to topic content)
  • Child in Home of Relative
  • Income Treatment and Exemptions
  • Information and Verification
  • Monthly Reporting Requirements
  • Pursuing Income
  • Sanctions
  • Trusts
  • Warrants

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF UPDATES:

• Eliminate topic: Two-Year Financial Independence as no longer relevant
• Move “Citizenship and Residency Requirements” down to main category “Eligibility”

Menu and topic titles renamed and reorganized as follows:

• Application for Assistance:
  • New topic title that includes the following content:
    • ‘Application and Intake - Category Overview’
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 1 - Overview’
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 2 - Overview’
• Application Requirements
  • New topic title that includes the following content:
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 1 - Requirements for Stage 1’
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 1 -Aboriginal Self-Identifier’
    • 'BCEA Application - Stage 1 - Completing an Application Stage 1'
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 2 - Conducting an Application Stage 2’
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 2 - Orientation’
• Eligibility Assessment
  • New topic title that includes the following content:
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 2 - Eligibility’
• Effective Date of Eligibility – Original Decision
  • New topic title that includes the following content:
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 2 - Effective Date of Eligibility - Original Decision’
• Underage Applicants
• Underage PWD Applicants
  • New topic title that includes the following content:
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 2 - 17-year-old PWD Applicants’
    • ‘BCEA Application - Stage 2 - 18-year-old Child Services Clients Applying for PWD’
• Identification Requirements
• Immediate Needs
• Streamlined Application
  • Renamed, shortened from BCEA Streamline Application (Returning in Six Months)
• MSO Recipients Requesting Financial Assistance
  • Renamed, abbreviate to MSO and added ‘Financial’

Category: PWD Designation and Application 

Topic: Designation Application – Persons with Disabilities designation – prescribed class, Applicants with Indigenous Services Canada PWD designation moving off reserve, Recipients with PWD designation moving on reserve

Effective date: July 13, 2026

Policy has been updated to reflect the addition of Persons with Disabilities Designation from Indigenous Services Canada in the B.C. region as a new Prescribed Class. This will replace the Applicants with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) PWD designation moving off reserve policy.

ISC has added the SDPR PWD Designation as a prescribed class for people living on-reserve in B.C. The Recipients with PWD designation moving on reserve policy has been updated to reflect this.

The BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS) adjudicates PWD applications for people living on-reserve in B.C. on behalf of ISC and will confirm eligibility for ISC PWD designation for prescribed class applicants.

Category: BC Employment and Assistance rate tables 

Topic: Senior Supplement Rates

Effective date: July 1, 2026

Policy and procedures have been updated to reflect:

• OAS/GIS rate increases

Category: Eligibility

Topic: Income Treatment and Exemptions

Effective date: July 1, 2026 

Ministry of Children and Families introduced changes to their Child and Youth with Support Needs Program with the introduction of the new B.C. Children and Youth Disability Benefit and the B.C Disability Supplement.

The Disability Supplement will be introduced in July 2027 and is administered by the Ministry of Finance under the BC Family Benefit. The Disability Benefit was introduced in April 2026 and is administered by MCFD.

This topic is being updated to reflect these two new payments are exempt as income and as an asset for applicants and recipients of income, disability and hardship assistance to ensure that these payments do not impact a family’s eligibility for, or amount of, assistance.

These payments are provided to families with children and youth that have a lifelong disability with significant and complex support needs.

Payments provided under the At Home Program will continue to be exempt.

Legacy Programs:

Payments provided under the Autism Funding Programs will continue to be exempt until April 1, 2027.

Category: Health Supplements & Programs 

Topic: Medical Transportation Review Project

Effective date: July 1, 2026 

A working group was established to review and modernize the following aspects of Medical Transportation:

• The Policy & Procedures Manual (PPM) has been updated to plain language. There are no material policy changes.
• The HR3320 Medical Transportation form has been updated to plain language and modernize it.
• The Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) document has been updated to align with the new format being used and to reflected language changes in the PPM and HR3320.
• The one-page Medical Transportation check-list will be removed from resources since the new HR3320 will include all necessary information.

Category: General Supplements & Programs 

Topic: General Supplement & Programs - Burial or Cremation Supplement

Effective date: April 15, 2026 

Policy has been updated to reflect changes to the Burial and Cremation Supplement (formerly referred to as the ‘Funeral Supplement’) rates and coverage:

• The Funeral Provider Basic Fee is increased to a maximum of $1,685
• Mileage rates are now as follows:
  • 0–32 km are included in the Funeral Provider Basic Service Fee
  • Above 32 km, mileage is provided at a flat rate of $1.25/km
• Ferry fees will be covered at cost
• Other items and service fees have been removed

Category: BC Employment and Assistance rate tables 

Topic: Senior Supplement Rates

Effective date: April 1, 2026

Policy and procedures have been updated to reflect:

• OAS/GIS rate increases

Category: PWD Designation & Application; Employment Programs, Planning & Exemptions; Health Supplements & Programs

Topic: Designation Application; Determining Clients with no Employability-Related Obligations, Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers; Extended Medical Therapies, Medical Equipment – Breathing Devices

Effective Date: April 1, 2026

Effective April 1, 2026, the Ministry of Health replaced the Health Professions Act with the Health Professions and Occupations Act. As a result of this change, School Psychologists became a designated health profession and are now required to register with the College of Health and Care Professionals.

The designated titles for individuals practising psychology are now Psychologist and School Psychologist. To align with these regulatory amendments, the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction has updated policy and procedures, definitions, client applications, and job resources. Within the BC Employment and Assistance (BCEA) Policy and Procedure Manual, relevant sections of policy, procedures, definitions, and frequently asked questions have been updated to reflect the Ministry of Health’s changes.

The following client application forms have also been updated to ensure language aligns with the new legislation:

• HR2892 – Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers Application
• HR2883 – Persons with Disabilities Designation Application

Category: General Supplements & Programs 

Topic: General Supplements & Programs – Crisis Supplement

Effective Date: April 1, 2026

Policy has been updated to reflect a new limit for Crisis Shelter Supplement:

• Starting April 1, 2026, families will be limited to a maximum of one Crisis Shelter Supplement in a rolling 12-month calendar period
• The policy includes exceptions to support the most vulnerable clients, including those:
  • Fleeing abuse
  • Experiencing homelessness
  • Will be homeless
  • Requiring adequate housing to reunite with a child that was removed from the family under the Child, Family, and Community Services Act
  • Requiring adequate housing to prevent a child from being removed from the family under Child, Family and Community Service Act
  • Relocating because their housing is uninhabitable, or their tenancy agreement ended unexpectedly and without fault of the tenant or landlord
  • Offered subsidized or supportive housing

Topic: General Supplements & Programs – Moving, Transportation, & Living Costs

Effective Date: April 1, 2026

Policy has been updated to reflect a new limit for Moving, Transportation, & Living Costs Supplement:

• Starting April 1, 2026, families will be limited to a maximum of two Moving, Transportation, & Living Costs Supplement in a rolling 12-month calendar period
• Any Moving Supplement request related to a Child Protection Hearing, Family Maintenance Hearing, or is a subsequent storage fee request related to an initial move will not apply to the limit of two.

Category: General Supplements & Programs 

Topic: General Supplements - Security Deposits and Pet Damage Deposits

Effective Date: March 17, 2026

Policy has been updated to clarify that security deposit supplements and pet damage deposit supplements can be issued for any type of tenancy situation that requires a security deposit, including but not limited to those covered by the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA) or a housing unit owned by a cooperative association.

• The supplements are available to all eligible clients, regardless whether the tenancy situation is covered by RTA tenancies.
• Recipients in a living accommodation in which they share a kitchen and/or bathroom facilities with the owner of that accommodation can be eligible for a security and/or pet damage deposit supplement if all eligibility criteria are met.