1970: Repeal of Training Schools Act

Repeal of the provincial Training Schools Act, which permitted the superintendent of child welfare to institutionalize juveniles if they were committed to the care of the superintendent under the federal Juvenile Delinquents Act. The maximum age jurisdiction in B.C. was also lowered from 18 to 17 years old. This event forever changed the administration of juvenile corrections.

According to the Training Schools Act, institutionalization of juvenile delinquents was a responsibility of the welfare system, rather than the justice system. Once the act was repealed, momentum gathered to place institutional programs for juveniles under the jurisdiction of the attorney general. The Administration of Justice Act required that the Corrections Branch assume responsibility for youth detention centres (at the time were located in Burnaby and Victoria) and municipal youth probation services, which included the Vancouver Juvenile Detention Home and Vancouver probation services as well as the Victoria Juvenile Detention Home.