Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act

The Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act came into effect on Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007.

Fact sheets and links to other important information on the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act are available from the Nova Scotia Department of Health. To view, click here.


I have serious concerns about the accuracy of some of the Nova Scotia Department of Health Fact Sheets, as well as the accuracy of the webpage itself.

For example, the criteria for involuntary admission are, in fact:

Section 17
Where a psychiatrist has conducted an involuntary psychiatric assessment and is of the opinion that

(a) the person has a mental disorder;

(b) the person is in need of the psychiatric treatment provided in a psychiatric facility;

(c) the person, as a result of the mental disorder,

(i) is threatening or attempting to cause serious harm to himself or herself or has recently done so, has recently caused serious harm to himself or herself, is seriously harming or is threatening serious harm towards another person or has recently done so, or

(ii) is likely to suffer serious physical impairment or serious mental deterioration, or both;

(d) the person requires psychiatric treatment in a psychiatric facility and is not suitable for inpatient admission as a voluntary patient; and

(e) as a result of the mental disorder, the person does not have the capacity to make admission and treatment decisions,

the psychiatrist may admit the person as an involuntary patient by completing and filing with the chief executive officer a declaration of involuntary admission in the form prescribed by the regulations.