QUÉBEC — Quebec’s minister of health and social services has tabled a bill to relax the criteria for the involuntary hospitalization of patients experiencing a mental health crisis.

The bill aims to overhaul Bill P-38, or the Act respecting the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves or to others, adopted in 1998.

Currently, authorities can forcibly hospitalize a person only if they pose a “serious and immediate” danger to themselves or others. This criterion is among the most restrictive in Canada.

Minister Sonia Bélanger’s Bill 23 proposes to change the wording to that of a “situation where there is a danger” to the person or others.

For example, a man with schizophrenia whose condition is reported to be deteriorating, but who does not necessarily pose an immediate danger, could be taken against his will to hospital, where he would remain for seven days.

Police will need authorization from a crisis intervention worker before intervening. To keep someone in hospital longer than one week, an application will have to be submitted to the Administrative Tribunal of Quebec.

Those with diagnosed mental health issues will have the option of creating a plan in the event of a major breakdown.

In his budget presented last week, Finance Minister Eric Girard set aside $104.4 million over five years to reform P-38 and improve mental health services.

“We have a responsibility to compel these people to seek treatment,” said Premier François Legault at a news conference. “It’s true it’s taken awhile, but it’s a very delicate matter. Obviously, we don’t want to go too far.”

Last fall, the minister of social services at the time, Lionel Carmant, pledged to modernize the law while noting that the issue was a sensitive one in terms of human rights.

In a December report commissioned by Carmant, the Quebec Institute for Law and Justice Reform said Bill P-38 formed a “serious infringement of people’s fundamental rights and freedoms.”

The institute recommended instead that services dedicated to mental health support and care be improved.

Bélanger said she took the report into account and denied going against its recommendations.

A recent homicide at a convenience store in downtown Montreal reignited the debate over the application of Bill P-38.

Concerns were also raised in 2023 after police officer Maureen Breau was killed by a man in crisis whose aggressive behaviour had been flagged by his family.

The government’s parliamentary leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette, said he expects Bill 23 to be passed before the end of the session, scheduled for June 12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2026.

Caroline Plante, The Canadian Press