When the BC NDP tabled its 2026 budget in February, it introduced a new word into the province's political vocabulary: "re-pacing." It meant, the government said, "strategically sequencing major projects over a longer term" and "adjusting timelines." It was not, officials assured, the same as cancellation.

It was cancellation.

This week, after Conservatives obtained an internal Fraser Health memo confirming the contract with the Burnaby Hospital Phase 2 builder had been terminated, Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma was forced to confirm the obvious: "In many cases, they've had to be cancelled."

Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer, who has covered BC politics for four decades, put it plainly: the time for euphemisms was over.

What "Re-Paced" Actually Meant

In February's budget, the NDP identified $3.5 billion in capital projects to be "re-paced." They included the $1.8 billion Phase 2 redevelopment of Burnaby Hospital โ€” a project that was, in 2018, described by the government as "the most important health project in the province."

Also "re-paced": long-term care homes in Delta, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Campbell River, Kelowna, Fort St. John, and Squamish. Completion dates that had previously ranged from 2027 to 2030 were replaced with "TBC" โ€” to be confirmed. At the time, the minister called it a "pause" to find "more innovative approaches" to reduce per-bed costs from $1.8 million.

Local governments were not alarmed โ€” yet. The word "cancelled" had not been used.

The "Re-Paced" Reality Check

  • $3.5 billion in capital projects "re-paced" in February 2026 budget
  • Burnaby Hospital Phase 2 โ€” $1.8B, 160-bed acute care tower, cancer centre, imaging: contract cancelled
  • Long-term care homes cancelled: Delta, Abbotsford, Chilliwack (confirmed); Campbell River, Kelowna, Fort St. John, Squamish (status unclear)
  • 7,829 seniors waiting for long-term care beds โ€” up from 7,029 last year
  • Burnaby Hospital Foundation had raised $55 million from donors for both phases
  • Delta spent $10 million on infrastructure prep for a project now without a confirmed start date
  • Record provincial deficit: $13.3 billion

Mayors Who Were "Consistently Reassured"

The most damning detail in this story is not the cancellations themselves โ€” it is how the NDP handled the communities affected.

Burnaby Hospital Foundation CEO Kristy James had been told, repeatedly, the project was not cancelled. "We've been consistently reassured by the health minister, the infrastructure minister, our MLAs โ€” consistently, consistently reassured the project's not cancelled, and it is just re-paced," she said this week. "But a terminated contract with no confirmed start date does sound more like a cancellation at this point."

"Well, I'm absolutely devastated and frankly horrified by this decision. In 2018, the government said this was the most important health project in the province. Now they have turned their back on Burnaby residents."

โ€” Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, May 2026

Delta Mayor George Harvie learned his community's long-term care home contract was cancelled after spending $10 million preparing the site. His offer to work with the province on cost reduction was rejected. "They've killed this project," he said. "They can use whatever words they want."

Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley found out the hospital contract was cancelled not through official channels, but from a leaked internal memo. He was told the day before the government confirmed it publicly.

The People Paying the Price

Behind the dollar figures and political maneuvering are real consequences for real British Columbians. According to the province's own Health Minister Josie Osborne, there are currently 7,829 seniors waiting for a long-term care bed โ€” up 800 from last year. The province's own Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt has said BC is currently short 2,000 beds, will be short 7,000 in five years, and over 16,000 in a decade.

The projects that were "re-paced" would have added hundreds of those beds. They are now on no confirmed timeline.

Meanwhile, the Burnaby Hospital Phase 2 โ€” which would have included a 160-bed acute care tower, a BC Cancer treatment centre, and a new medical imaging department โ€” remains a parking lot adjacent to a 1950s-era hospital that received only 12 new beds from Phase 1.

The Deficit That Made It Possible

The NDP's defence of these cancellations comes down to one number: the $13.3-billion deficit โ€” a record for BC, one that the same government created through years of expanding public sector spending, adding over 30,000 new government jobs, and presiding over cost overruns on major capital projects.

The government built the deficit. The deficit is now being used to justify cancelling the hospitals. The circularity is complete.

Palmer's column in the Vancouver Sun noted that the NDP's Infrastructure Ministry โ€” created specifically to "expedite" construction โ€” has instead presided over deferrals without cheaper alternatives. After the pause, Minister Ma acknowledged: "There is more work for our government to do with health authorities to get costs down."

The province does not yet have a cheaper model. It does not have a confirmed timeline. What it has is a new word โ€” "re-paced" โ€” and a growing list of mayors who are done with it.