	AI Legislative Guide
	Canada, British Columbia
	(Canada) Firm Farris LLP Contributors Bo Rothstein Updated 07 May 2026
Has specific legislation, final regulations or other formal regulatory guidance addressing the use of AI in your jurisdiction been implemented (vs reliance on existing legislation around IP, cyber, data privacy, etc.)?	To date, there has been some guidance from the Law Society of British Columbia ("LSBC"), but it is very limited. The courts have also provided limited guidance.
Please provide a short summary of the legislation/regulations/guidance and explain how legislators aim to strike the balance between innovation and regulation.	The LSBC provides the following guidance for lawyers where legal services will include using generative AI to perform tasks: To maintain the required level of competence, a lawyer should develop an understanding of, and ability to use, technology relevant to the nature and area of the lawyer's practice and responsibilities. In accordance with the duties of honesty and candour, a lawyer should make clients aware of how they plan to use generative AI tools in their practice, generally, and on the specific file. When using generative AI, the lawyer remains responsible for ensuring accuracy. They should carefully scrutinize any results for both correctness and potential bias in the text it provided. and check all citations (including quotes) through a separate trusted resource. To maintain client confidentiality, a lawyer should ideally omit any confidential information, including any information identifying the client, from anything being supplied to the generative AI tool. If redacting the data is not possible, the lawyer should explore whether client consent to use the tool with such information is viable. Any consent obtained from the client must be fully informed and voluntary after disclosure in writing or orally with a written record of the communication. All potential risks must be communicated to obtain informed consent. A lawyer must consider any relevant privacy law implications as well as LSBC rules regarding privilege, record-keeping and record security. Lawyers should check with the court, tribunal, or other relevant decision-maker to verify whether they are required to attribute, and to what degree, their use of generative AI. BC Courts have also issued a practice directive reminding all litigants that they are responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of all materials filed with the Court.
Which agency regulates the use of AI in your jurisdiction?	The Law Society of British Columbia is currently the governing regulator for lawyers in BC.

AI Legislative Guide

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Has specific legislation, final regulations or other formal regulatory guidance addressing the use of AI in your jurisdiction been implemented (vs reliance on existing legislation around IP, cyber, data privacy, etc.)?

To date, there has been some guidance from the Law Society of British Columbia ("LSBC"), but it is very limited. The courts have also provided limited guidance.

Please provide a short summary of the legislation/regulations/guidance and explain how legislators aim to strike the balance between innovation and regulation.

The LSBC provides the following guidance for lawyers where legal services will include using generative AI to perform tasks:

To maintain the required level of competence, a lawyer should develop an understanding of, and ability to use, technology relevant to the nature and area of the lawyer's practice and responsibilities.
In accordance with the duties of honesty and candour, a lawyer should make clients aware of how they plan to use generative AI tools in their practice, generally, and on the specific file.
When using generative AI, the lawyer remains responsible for ensuring accuracy. They should carefully scrutinize any results for both correctness and potential bias in the text it provided. and check all citations (including quotes) through a separate trusted resource.
To maintain client confidentiality, a lawyer should ideally omit any confidential information, including any information identifying the client, from anything being supplied to the generative AI tool. If redacting the data is not possible, the lawyer should explore whether client consent to use the tool with such information is viable. Any consent obtained from the client must be fully informed and voluntary after disclosure in writing or orally with a written record of the communication. All potential risks must be communicated to obtain informed consent.
A lawyer must consider any relevant privacy law implications as well as LSBC rules regarding privilege, record-keeping and record security.
Lawyers should check with the court, tribunal, or other relevant decision-maker to verify whether they are required to attribute, and to what degree, their use of generative AI.

BC Courts have also issued a practice directive reminding all litigants that they are responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of all materials filed with the Court.

Which agency regulates the use of AI in your jurisdiction?

The Law Society of British Columbia is currently the governing regulator for lawyers in BC.

AI Legislative Guide

Canada, British Columbia

AI Legislative Guide

Canada, British Columbia