The emergency department at Burnaby Hospital in B.C. in May, 2022. The local community has been desperate for the addition of a promised $1.8-billion Phase 2 of the hospital, which has been 're-paced' by the NDP, writes Gary Mason.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Last summer, B.C.’s seniors advocate issued a report on the state of long-term care in the province.
For many, it was a terrifying read.
Dan Levitt found that the number of seniors languishing on wait lists for publicly subsidized long-term care had more than tripled in nine years – from 2,381 in 2016 to 7,212 in 2025. Yes, a 200-per-cent increase. Along with that, the average wait time for an available spot increased by 98 per cent – from 146 days in 2018 to 290 days last year.
The advocate was clear-eyed about what needed to happen: the province currently had a shortage of about 2,000 long-term beds, but owing to an expected increase in demand, that gap would grow to 16,000 by 2036. Yes, you read that correctly.
Mr. Levitt also pointed to another critical aspect of the long-term bed shortage – its impact on hospitals. More and more seniors who were going to hospital were staying because there were no spots available in long-term care, where they could just as easily be cared for. This, naturally, has a ripple effect.
It means there are no beds for others going to emergency, forcing patients to exist on gurneys in hospital hallways – sometimes for weeks. According to Mr. Levitt’s report, the number of patients in B.C. hospitals who couldn’t be discharged because there was no alternate form of care available grew by 21 per cent since 2015.
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Many seniors, it should also be said, were going to emergency because they didn’t have a family doctor to diagnose their problems.
The good news was help was coming. At least, that’s what the New Democratic Party government promised in their 2024 election platform. They were going to build 5,400 long-term care beds. Plans were already made for new facilities in Delta, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Fort St. John and Squamish – communities spread out all over the province.
It appeared that the government was living up to its campaign pledge. Until last week.
In one of the more shocking, short-sighted and cruel decisions a B.C. government has made, Premier David Eby’s NDP announced all of those projects had been put on hold. Although the government had its own word for it – “re-paced.” Yes, the construction was just being “re-paced” to be resumed another time, down the road, maybe, perhaps, possibly at a date to be determined in the future.
At the same time, it also “re-paced” the $1.8-billion Phase 2 of Burnaby Hospital – an addition for which the community has been desperate for years. Millions in donations had been raised. In the case of Delta, the city had raised nearly $20-million towards a new long-term care facility, with $15-million having already been spent preparing the site for construction.
Crews were told to pack up their equipment and go home.
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Right now, if there was a competition for worst-run province, B.C. would almost certainly get the nod, thanks to the utterly inept job the New Democrats have done. We have previously chronicled some of their failures – or, as the New Democrats might put it, “operating insufficiencies.” They are piling up debt at a historic pace. The current budget alone forecasts a record deficit of $13.3-billion. They introduced legislation designed to usher in a new era of Indigenous reconciliation that has backfired in spectacular fashion and almost paralyzed the government. The NDP’s experiment in drug decriminalization was a complete dud.
And those are just some of the highlights.
Still, you did not expect them to cancel – sorry, “re-pace” – projects as critical to the future of the province as long-term care. Just this January, Mr. Levitt issued an urgent call regarding the situation, saying there has been a 5-per-cent increase in the number of long-term care beds in B.C. since 2019-20, while the population of seniors over 65 has increased 19 per cent.
“We are at the beginning of a rapid increase in the number of people 65 and over and we know the gap between the seniors’ population and older adults requiring public services will only widen if we don’t act now,” said the seniors advocate in a statement.
“The stories I hear from families at their breaking point caring for their loved ones are heartbreaking. We simply must do better.”
It’s difficult to imagine a government acting more irresponsibly in the face of such demographic challenges. An old-age tsunami is washing over the province and the government, instead of building facilities where seniors can live their remaining years in safety and with a degree of dignity, has decided that’s not a priority.
B.C. seniors should never forget it.