Every school in British Columbia will soon be required to be equipped with two types of lifesaving tools.
The B.C. Ministry of Education has issued a new mandate requiring schools to have automated external defibrillators (AEDs) — tools used to jumpstart a heart during a cardiac arrest — and naloxone kits that can reverse an overdose.
The mandate requires the tools to be in all high schools by the end of this year, while elementary schools must carry the equipment by September 2026.
The move follows advocacy by Grade 11 student Tobias Zhang and a group of his peers at Point Grey Secondary in Vancouver, who mobilized after a friend died of a cardiac event in 2022.
In January, following multiple meetings with Zheng and his classmates, the Vancouver School Board (VSB) passed its own district-wide AED policy.
Now the Education Ministry is taking the idea provincewide.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
“This is a significant victory for the Point Grey students who really advocated for this, and I’m incredibly grateful for all the support that they’ve had and all the work that they’ve done,” said Melnaie Cheng, chair of the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council.
Under the mandate, Grade 10 students across the province will also learn how to use AEDs and to perform CPR as a part of their physical and health education curriculum.
“CPR training is just a critical life skill that every student should have,” Cheng said.
“This initiative is not only beneficial for students, but also for staff. It just promotes health and safety for everyone at school sites.”
However, while Naloxone will be kept in schools, students won’t be trained on how to use it.
Leslie McBain, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, believes that’s a missed opportunity.
“It is a shame, really, that they are not being given the training even basic just basic overview of what it takes,” she said.
“Having kids know about naloxone, know what to do, know what an overdose looks like is a really good thing. They potentially will save lives.”
While the new provincial policy requires schools to acquire, inspect and maintain AEDs, it does not come with a boost in funding.
According to the ministry, 97 per cent of B.C. school districts already have the devices in some or all schools.
Vancouver School Trustee Jennifer Reddy said that because of the new policy approved this year, the VSB has already budgeted $250,000 for the tools.
But she acknowledged the mandate is yet another pressure on already stretched districts.
“There’s no question public schools are underfunded and we’re being tasked to do more and more with less and less,” Reddy said.
“But there are decisions at the school district level that we can make that do align with our values … this announcement, in my view, is leadership, it is visionary, and it’s an important step to set the bar of what is actually expected of us as a school district.”
However, it remains unclear how other districts that don’t already have an AED program will cover the cost of installing the new tools.
“The province needs to engage with the districts in the rollout of this, and hopefully, in doing so, we can advocate if there are funding gaps,” Cheng said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
