Following is a letter to Burnaby residents from Mayor Mike Hurley
Last Friday, I met with Premier David Eby, major community contributors, senior representatives from the Burnaby Hospital Foundation, doctors and frontline staff to discuss the future of Phase 2 of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment.
The meeting took place amid widespread frustration and disappointment across Burnaby following the Province’s announcement earlier that week that the Phase 2 construction contract had been cancelled. Although the meeting had been scheduled in advance, given the intensity of community reaction in the days leading up to it, we appreciated the Premier coming to Burnaby and engaging directly, face to face, with those most closely connected to the project.
While the contract cancellation has raised serious and legitimate concerns, the discussion helped clarify three essential issues that now require urgent attention.
Confirmation that Phase 2 will be delivered as originally approved
During Friday’s meeting, Premier Eby reaffirmed the Province’s commitment to delivering Phase 2, a position he also reiterated publicly to the media afterward. Importantly, he stated that the project would proceed according to the originally approved plan and scope.
This confirmation is critical. Burnaby Hospital was built in 1952 for a population of 58,000, yet today it serves more than 500,000 people across our city and East Vancouver. This number is soon to rise to 700,000 with a patient increase of nearly 60 per cent expected by 2036.
BC’s current acute care average is 1.46 beds per 1,000 population while Burnaby’s is 0.58 and projected to be 0.41 in 2032. That’s compared to 2.9 in Vancouver and 1.0 in Surrey. Which is why, in 2019, the provincial government called Burnaby Hospital the priority health care project in the province. That need has only increased and will continue to do so.
It is essential that Phase 2 proceeds exactly as originally approved, with no reduction in scope and no loss of planned inpatient beds. Maintaining the full, approved bed count and clinical program is fundamental to meeting longstanding regional health care needs.
The future of Burnaby Hospital–with John McCarthy and Dr. Alex Butskiy
The BC Cancer Centre, in particular, is non-negotiable. As Dr. Alex Butskiy noted in our recent podcast episode, Burnaby residents currently navigate fragmented cancer care across the region, forcing many—particularly older patients—to travel long distances between diagnosis, treatment and follow up.
The planned full service cancer centre is also a critical component of provincial cancer care capacity, meeting growing demand in the region and easing the pressure on other hospitals.
Financial certainty and protection of approved Phase 2 funding
It is crucial at this stage that the full Phase 2 capital funding already approved—$1.8 billion—remains set aside in Treasury and explicitly earmarked for the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment.
While the Province has cancelled the alliance development contract with the Burnaby Hospital Alliance Partners, that decision relates to the delivery model, not the underlying approval of the project or its funding. Our request on Friday was clear: that the previously approved Phase 2 allocation remain protected and reserved specifically for this project.
Given the current fiscal pressures facing the Province, it is especially important that this funding not be reallocated or absorbed into broader capital re pacing. Preserving the full allocation is essential to ensuring that Phase 2 can proceed as soon as possible once a new timeline is established. Our goal remains to see Phase 2 return to the provincial capital plan and be reflected in next year’s budget.
Let’s remember – Phase 1, which opened to patients earlier this month, largely replaced existing hospital infrastructure. Phase 2 was always intended to be the growth phase of the project.
It is designed to deliver a new 160 bed inpatient tower, expanded medical imaging, critical and high acuity care units, cardiac telemetry, oncology services and additional diagnostic and support space. It also includes demolition of the outdated West Wing and further emergency and endoscopy renovations, enabling the hospital campus to function as a fully integrated, modern health care facility.
Without Phase 2, Burnaby Hospital cannot meet current demand, let alone the needs of a rapidly growing population in Burnaby and East Vancouver.
The need for a clear and credible timeline to start construction
The most immediate pressure point now is the absence of a clear timeline for when Phase 2 construction will begin. Without a defined start date, uncertainty persists for hospital staff, patients, donors and the broader community, and that uncertainty carries real financial and clinical consequences.
Construction costs are widely understood to rise year over year. If the current “re pacing” is intended as a cost saving measure, the likely outcome is the opposite. Delays driven by provincial pacing decisions have already contributed to cost escalation across multiple major capital projects, including Burnaby Hospital. Phase 1 was originally targeted for completion in 2023, with Phase 2 construction expected to follow by 2027.
The lack of a timeline also risks eroding the confidence that has underpinned significant community investment. More than $20 million has already been raised through philanthropy specifically for Phase 2, including major contributions from McCarthy Properties, the Beedie family and many other donors. These contributions were made in good faith, based on the Province’s stated commitment to deliver a modern hospital capable of serving Burnaby’s rapidly growing population.
The City of Burnaby has also committed $5 million to the redevelopment—an uncommon step for a municipality, to invest directly in provincial hospital infrastructure, but Burnaby did so to ensure this long-promised expansion could move forward.
Following Friday’s meeting, discussions with the Premier and his office will continue, focused on securing funding certainty, and, critically establishing a clear timeline to start Phase 2.
The meeting itself was constructive and reaffirmed the shared understanding of how essential this project is to Burnaby and the wider region.
Ultimately, everyone involved is working toward the same outcome: a fully delivered hospital redevelopment that meets current and future regional health care needs. Achieving that outcome will require all partners and orders of government to remain engaged, aligned and working collaboratively.
Increasing affordable housing supply–with Burnaby Housing Authority CEO John Brendan McEown
