New strategy converts Vancouver houses into 'Small Care Homes' for seniors | Daily Hive

New strategy by Vancouver Coastal Health converts houses into 'Small Care Homes' for seniors

Example of an architectural concept of a single-family detached house converted into a Small Care Home. (KR Architecture/Vancouver Coastal Health)

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) announced earlier this month it will begin opening a new kind of long-term care setting designed to feel less like an institution and more like a neighbourhood home, as the region prepares for a booming number of seniors.

The new typology, called “Small Care Homes,” will be licensed long-term care homes set up in existing single-family detached houses that are renovated to be fully accessible.

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Each house will usually have up to 10 residents, with private bedrooms and shared spaces such as a kitchen, living room, laundry, and outdoor areas. The first three houses under this new typology are expected to open in both urban and rural communities in Spring 2026.

B.C. Minister of Health Josie Osborne said the model is meant to help seniors stay closer to their families and communities, calling the homes “an important part of B.C.’s continuum of seniors’ care” and saying they offer “the dignity, comfort and sense of belonging that come from living in a more home-like setting.”

VCH says residents will receive 24-hour care while taking part in daily activities suited to their abilities, helping them keep a sense of routine and independence. Because the homes are smaller, the same staff can work more closely with the same residents, which the health authority says can lead to stronger relationships, better care, and improved job satisfaction for workers.

The health authority also says Small Care Homes are a quicker and more practical way to add new long-term care spaces. Renovating existing houses takes less time and causes less disruption than building large facilities.

Yasmin Jetha, VCH’s vice-president of community services, said the approach will allow the health authority to rapidly expand long-term care capacity while creating “personalized, familiar and culturally safe home environments.”

Working with BC Housing, VCH aims to add 200 beds in Small Care Homes by 2029. VCH’s jurisdiction spans a major part of Metro Vancouver — specifically Vancouver, University of British Columbia, University Endowment Lands, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, and Richmond — as well as the Sea to Sky Corridor, Sunshine Coast, Powell River, Bella Bella, and Bella Coola.

vancouver coastal health vch small care homes kr architecture

Example of an architectural concept of a single-family detached house converted into a Small Care Home. (KR Architecture/Vancouver Coastal Health)

VCH’s push to expand options like Small Care Homes comes as updated provincial data highlights growing pressure on B.C.’s seniors care system.

According to the Office of the Seniors Advocate of British Columbia (OSABC), B.C.’s population aged 65 and over is projected to grow by 26 per cent over the next decade.

In January 2026, OSABC released its latest Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Directory, showing that while the senior population has grown rapidly, new care spaces have not kept pace. The report found the number of long-term care beds has increased by just five per cent since 2019/2020, compared to a 19 per cent increase in the population aged 65 and over during the same period.

Over the next 10 years, the provincial government’s current plan would increase long-term care beds by about 10 per cent, with no additional beds planned after 2030. OSABC estimates B.C. already faces a shortfall of about 2,000 beds — a gap that is projected to widen dramatically as demand rises toward an estimated need for 16,000 additional beds by 2035/2036.

“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 BC Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt, adding that “as of today, the Province has no plan to meet this demand.”

The directory reports modest growth in recent years, with four new publicly subsidized long-term care homes and 513 additional beds added in 2024/2025, and a total increase of six facilities and 1,437 beds since 2019/2020.

Levitt said the pressure is already being felt by families.

“The wait lists and wait times for long-term care and assisted living continue to grow, putting seniors and family caregivers under tremendous strain,” he said, noting that many home support services remain unaffordable or insufficient.

“The stories I hear from families at their breaking point caring for their loved ones are heartbreaking. We simply must do better.”

The annual directory, which draws on data from health authorities, the B.C. Ministry of Health, and other provincial and national entities, also tracks quality indicators such as care hours, room configurations, medication use, complaints, and inspections. This year’s update added new information on wait times for admissions from both the community and hospitals.

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