The NDP’s favourite budget word was “re-paced.” The contracts tell a harder story.

Canadian Press reported on April 30, 2026 that the B.C. government says construction contracts for five health-care projects have been cancelled after the government described the projects in February as being slowed down to control costs. The cancellations include the second phase of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment, the Beedie Long-Term Care Centre in Delta, and long-term care projects in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Kelowna.

Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma said the projects remain in the capital plan and that the cancellations were the most fiscally responsible way forward given changed timelines. But for communities waiting for hospital beds and seniors care, a cancelled contract with no firm replacement date is not a schedule adjustment. It is a broken promise until proven otherwise.

Burnaby: 160 beds and a cancer centre in limbo

Global News reported that Burnaby Hospital Phase 2 includes a new inpatient tower with 160 beds and a cancer care centre. The project was one of several paused in Budget 2026 and described as “re-pacing.” Hospital staff later learned the multiparty Alliance contract awarded two years earlier had been cancelled completely.

Kristy James, president and CEO of the Burnaby Hospital Foundation, said the foundation was deeply disappointed and that a terminated contract with no confirmed start date “sounds like a cancellation.” CityNews separately reported her warning that Burnaby is “essentially left with half a hospital and no new beds.”

What was axed

  • Burnaby Hospital Phase 2 redevelopment contract.
  • Beedie Long-Term Care Centre in Delta.
  • Long-term care projects in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Kelowna.
  • Projects were among nine slowed in February amid a projected $13.3-billion deficit.
  • Health Minister Josie Osborne acknowledged long-term care wait times are unacceptable.

The City of Burnaby had already warned how serious this was. In March, Mayor Mike Hurley said Burnaby Hospital serves more than 500,000 people, a number expected to rise to 700,000, while Burnaby’s acute-care bed ratio was far below provincial and regional comparators. The city said Phase 2 had received Treasury Board approval for $1.7 billion in 2023, community donors had raised more than $20 million, and the city had committed $5 million.

Fiscal mismanagement becomes patient risk

The province says budgets escalated and timelines changed. That may explain why officials are trying to rework contracts. It does not erase the accountability problem. The NDP announced, promised and encouraged communities to fundraise around major health infrastructure, then shifted from “re-paced” to cancelled contracts after the deficit hit record territory.

The bottom line: B.C. patients were promised capacity. Communities raised money in good faith. The NDP delivered a vocabulary lesson. “Re-paced” now means cancelled contracts, uncertain timelines and health-care infrastructure pushed back while pressure keeps building.