CSIL History Archive

A public history of Choice in Supports for Independent Living in British Columbia

Choice in Supports for Independent Living (CSIL) is a British Columbia home-support program. Public program materials describe it as a way for eligible people to manage funding and hire their own workers, instead of receiving care only through an agency.

This history follows how that arrangement developed. Before Creekview, people with high physical support needs in British Columbia often lived in hospitals or received limited hours of care through agencies. In the 1980s, disabled people and community organizations tried other ways to live in the community. One of those experiments was Creekview, a Vancouver co-op where a small group of men with high-level quadriplegia moved out of hospital. A later bibliography lists a 1990 training manual under the name Enhanced Consumer Participation Model (ECPM), meant to train consumers to act as employers; we have not found a copy to read. Later organizations also use that name for an individual-funding project they say came before CSIL. In the mid-1990s a ministry program named CSIL appears in the sources. Later official records describe a 1994 pilot and later province-wide availability. Later rules also described ways for people to take part even when they cannot always direct every part of care themselves.

The evidence does not show that Creekview formally became ECPM, or that ECPM formally became CSIL. Later writers also disagree about whether CSIL began in 1993 or 1994. Later official records describe a 1994 pilot and province-wide availability in 1995. A 1995 newspaper still described CSIL as a new pilot program.

Public program pages describe how CSIL works now. They are not a substitute for the newspapers, Hansard, later government reports, training materials, and personal accounts used here.

Start with the History overview, then read Creekview, ECPM, CSIL design and pilot, and Later evolution.

This is not a campaign, and it is not a guide to applying for CSIL.

If you can help, the most useful contributions are citations, catalogue records, permitted scans, and corrections. Please read About / Contribute and do not send private or health-related records.