A review from British Columbia’s ombudsperson finds the province’s whistleblower law is falling short in some key areas.
Jay Chalke released four reports Tuesday as a special committee of the Legislative Assembly conducts a mandatory five-year review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA).
The act, adopted in 2018, allows employees in provincial government ministries to report wrongdoing that is potentially unlawful or dangerous to the public. That could range from serious misuse of public funds to risks to health and safety.
The ombudsperson is an independent official who investigates complaints from the public about unfair government administration, as well as allegations of wrongdoing and reprisal from current and former government employees.
One of the reports said the ombudsperson received 382 reports between December 2019 and March 2025. About 100 of those were about a public body not covered by PIDA or from a person not eligible to make a disclosure.
The most common issue raised was alleged gross or systemic mismanagement, cited in more than 60 per cent of reports.
Of those disclosures, 44 were investigated. Eight led to recommendations from the ombudsperson to address identified issues.
“PIDA has worked well in many respects,” said Chalke in a statement.
“At the same time, my office’s analysis of five years of experience highlights where the law is falling short…This review is an opportunity to build on what’s working and fix what’s not,” he said.
Chalk recommends 38 amendments to strengthen the act.
He said one limitation is that key public sectors and employees are still not covered by the act. He said the protections should be extended to hundreds more public bodies, from professional regulatory bodies to local governments. He said municipal police departments, legislature administrators, government contractors and volunteers should also be covered by the act.
Chalke also said too few employees are aware of the act’s protections and many fear reprisal for speaking up.
A survey of provincial government employees found about one-third were not familiar with PIDA and not aware of other avenues to raise a serious workplace concern. More than half of employees said any fear of retaliation would discourage them from coming forward.
Chalke said all whistleblowers should be protected from retaliation, even if there is no formal investigation.
Other recommendations aim to improve how disclosures and investigations are handled. That includes eliminating the assessment of whether a whistleblower report is made in good faith, and improving training for supervisors.
Chalke also said the ombudsperson should have access to privileged information under PIDA in a manner similar to existing access under the Ombudsperson Act.
“These are not theoretical fixes, nor are they a complete makeover of the Act. Rather, they come directly from what we have witnessed and experienced first-hand over the past five years,” said Chalke.
