MLA Ian Paton on-site ahead of a rally for Fraser Valley health care on Sunday, March 29. (Image Credit: Ian Paton)

By Alyssa Conti

Seniors' Care

Advocates rally for health care as B.C. budget delays long-term care projects in Fraser Valley

Mar 29, 2026 | 12:58 PM

DELTA — Officials and health care professionals have gathered at a Delta park this afternoon (Mar. 29) to speak out against the latest gaps in Fraser Valley’s health care system.

MLAs Ian Paton and Misty Van Popta are speaking out against the province for delaying the Beedie Long-term Care Centre in Delta despite the community meeting its $18 million contribution – one of three long-term care projects that have been put on hold in the Fraser Valley region due to B.C. budget pressures this year.

Delta Mayor George Harvie and Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation CEO Lisa Hoglund are also in attendance.

“Our seniors can’t afford delays,” said MLA Misty Van Popta, Critic for Infrastructure. “This community stepped up and got this project moving — now we need the government to do the same.”

The Delta project is estimated at $900,000 per bed, which was well below the government’s stated benchmark.

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“This project was ready to go,” said Ian Paton, MLA for Delta South. “People want answers, and they want to see it moving again.”

The Office of the Seniors Advocate B.C. has recently published its “Monitoring Seniors Services 2025” report, saying that many seniors’ health care services have been falling short, including inadequate capacity in long-term care homes.

BC Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt told reporters Thursday that seniors have been spending increasingly more time in hospital waitlists for long-term care beds, with 93 per cent of 13,000 approved applicants not receiving the space they need.

“Half of the approved applicants have been waiting for over two years and nearly 20 per cent have waited for more than five years,” Levitt said. “So again, we’re not keeping pace with growth. We’re actually falling further behind.”

The Beedie Long-term Care facility would have made space for 200 beds and was contracted to be completed by 2028. MLA Ian Paton said the B.C. government has since reported it will slow the project’s progress and has provided no further details.

A replacement for the outdated Bradley Centre in Chilliwack and a five-storey facility to be built adjacent to the Maplewood House and Abbotsford Regional Hospital have been delayed in the latest round of budget cuts, along with projects in Squamish, Campbell River, Kelowna and Fort St. John.

All applicants to the B.C. Community Housing Fund have also heard their projects being delayed, including a 60-unit housing project in the Village of Harrison.

• BC Housing delays Agassiz-Harrison seniors’ rental project, cites provincial budget pressures

The rally in Delta started at noon today at Paterson Park.