Drug Treatment Court of Vancouver

The Drug Treatment Court of Vancouver (DTCV) provides an alternative to the regular criminal court process for individuals who commit drug offences or minor Criminal Code offences because they have a cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine addiction.

For a minimum of 14 months, DTCV participants undergo drug addiction treatment supervised by a DTCV judge who sits at the Vancouver Criminal Court at 222 Main Street.

At Vancouver’s Drug Court Treatment and Resource Centre, DTCV participants receive the services of addiction counsellors, case managers, a psychologist, an addictions specialist physician, a nurse, and a financial assistance worker.

How the DTCV works

  • Program participants:
    • plead guilty to their offence(s);
    • are released on a DTCV Undertaking, which requires them to attend the Drug Court Treatment and Resource Centre on a daily basis and undergo random urinanalysis; and
    • make frequent court appearances before a DTCV judge.
  • Court sits Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 am and 2:00 pm.
  • The DTCV judge reviews each participant’s progress in the program and imposes rewards or sanctions, depending on a participant’s compliance or non-compliance with judge’s directions and the DTCV care team.
  • Charges are not typically approved for breaches of DTCV bail. However, participants who fail to comply with program requirements can be opted out of the program and sentenced or tried for their offences. 

DTCV eligibility

  • The accused:
    • must be addicted to cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines;
    • must be committing crimes fundamentally to satisfy a drug addiction (not primarily for profit);
    • cannot be serving a sentence or have outstanding charges that include an allegation of domestic violence, a sexual offence, or breaking and entering into residential premises;
    • cannot be an associate or member of a gang or criminal organization;
    • cannot presently be serving a Conditional Sentence Order;
    • cannot require an interpreter to participate in treatment programming, other than a French interpreter; and
    • cannot be a former DTCV graduate.
  • A conviction against the accused for a current prosecution cannot result in the Canada Border Service Agency initiating deportation proceedings or other removal processes against the accused/​offender, pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. 
  • The accused’s criminal prosecutions in other jurisdictions anywhere in Canada cannot interfere with the accused’s daily participation in the DTCV program.
  • The accused’s currently prosecuted section 5 Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) Possession for the Purposes of Trafficking or Trafficking offence cannot have been committed near a school yard, playground, or other place frequented by children, or involved a person under the age of 18 years (see s.10 of the CDSA: ​“aggravating factors for sentencing”).
  • If the accused participated in DTCV in the past, but hasn’t graduated, they must have been out of the program for a year before returning.

What happens upon successful completion of the DTCV program

After participating in the program for a minimum of 14 months and completing all four phases, a participant is eligible to graduate and receive a non-custodial sentence or the charge will be stayed if the participant has:

  • abstained from consuming all intoxicants for the three months immediately preceding graduation;
  • not been charged with a new offence in the six months immediately preceding graduation;
  • been engaged in secure employment, training, or volunteering; and
  • secured stable housing approved by the DTCV judge.

Learn more about DTCV

See the Provincial Court of British Columbia website or contact the DTCV prosecutor at 604-666-2066or DTCV duty counsel at 604-813-4063.