ActBritish ColumbiaPassed, not switched on

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (BC) (SBC 2019, c. 44 (Bill 41, 2019))

Passed unanimously on 26 November 2019; royal assent 28 November 2019. In Gitxaała (5 December 2025, 2–1), the B.C. Court of Appeal held that the Act brings the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into B.C. law "with immediate legal effect". The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal on 21 May 2026. In April 2026 the government dropped plans to table an amending bill that session; the B.C. Conservatives promise to repeal the Act.

Stages

Passing a law is not the same as switching it on, and switching it on is not the same as using it. Each stage is dated where known.

1. Passed 26 November 2019
   BC passes the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) unanimously

Events

• 21 May 2026Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear B.C.'s appeal in the Gitxaała case on DRIPA and the mineral claims regimeActionCourt rulingBritish Columbia5 sources
• 13 April 2026Eby drops the confidence-vote framing on a bill to suspend parts of DRIPA; no bill is tabled that sessionStatementStatementBritish Columbia2 sources
• 5 December 2025BC Court of Appeal rules in the Gitxaała case that BC's Declaration Act brings UNDRIP into BC law 'with immediate legal effect'ActionCourt rulingBritish Columbia3 sources
• 19 November 2025Elenore Sturko introduces Bill M 223, Interpretation Amendment Act (No. 2), 2025, to repeal section 8.1 of BC's Interpretation Act (the UN Declaration consistency rule)ActionLegislationBritish Columbia1 source
• 2019BC passes the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) unanimouslyActionLegislationBritish Columbia1 source