B.C. government cancels Burnaby Hospital redevelopment, sort of
The B.C. government cancelled the contract for the second phase of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment, leaving some worried that the project is called off.
Earlier this week, Kristy James, the president and chief executive officer of the Burnaby Hospital and Community Foundation, said she learned the government had cancelled the Alliance Contract.
An alliance contract is a “collaborative contract” with multiple parties. It was composed of BC Cancer, the Fraser Health Authority, Infrastructure BC, PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc, and Parkin Architects Western Ltd.
With this gone, it means that the contracts with the developers and architects are now terminated.
“So when the project does have a start date, they’ll have to go back through the bid process,” James said. “In other words, restart the entire project with a new developer and a new architect.”
James said they were not given any reason as to why the government made this decision.
“We’ve been reassured over and over that this project is not going to be cancelled. It is moving forward. It is just re-paced. We assumed that just meant a slight delay, and now that the actual contracts with the developers are cancelled, that, to us, signifies a cancellation. That’s not a delay.”
However, Bowinn Ma, B.C.’s minister of infrastructure, told Daily Hive Urbanized in a statement that this is not a cancellation.
“To be clear, the project is still within our capital plan, and we remain committed to delivering improved healthcare for people in Burnaby,” she said.
In February, the government announced in its 2026 budget that it would be delaying the construction of both Phase 2 and a new BC Cancer Centre, as it pulled back on its pace of new housing and major infrastructure construction starts due to fiscal constraints and cost pressures.
In B.C.’s budget the year prior, they said the estimated cost of Phase 2 was $1.8 billion, with construction supposed to begin in late 2025 for completion by 2030.
Because the government re-paced the project, Ma said the original construction timeline is no longer in effect. Thus, they cancelled contracts they entered based on that timeline.
The Burnaby Citizens Association, a municipal political party with seven of eight city council seats in Burnaby, released a statement calling on the BC Treasury Board to “reverse its decision.”
“Cancelling Burnaby Hospital contracts will only make these badly-needed hospital upgrades more expensive and delay their opening,” said Coun. Daniel Tetrault.
Why do they want a redevelopment?
James said the hospital hasn’t had a new bed increase since the 1980s, despite the fact that they serve over 500,000 people in Burnaby and East Vancouver.
While the first phase of the Burnaby Hospital finished in March 2026 with a new patient-care pavilion and expanded support facilities, it will not have new beds.
The second phase of the Burnaby Hospital includes a new 160-bed inpatient tower, plus an oncology ambulatory care unit and chemotherapy and radiation therapy facilities.
James said that the lack of beds causes delays in people accessing care.
“When people come through Emergency, and there are no beds available in the hospital, they have nowhere to go. Which then slows down emergency access. It’s a ripple effect through the whole community,” she said.
“If you go into hospitals and you see beds in hallways, it’s because they’ve moved them out in stretchers to be able to continue to bring people through the emergency. But if there’s nowhere in the hospital to put them because of a bed shortage, they will stay in Emergency until a bed frees up.”