VICTORIA — British Columbia will need almost 16,000 new long-term care beds by 2036 with an estimated price of $16 billion in capital costs to meet the demands of an aging society, the province’s seniors’ advocate says.
Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press July 29, 2025 1:38 PM
Dan Levitt’s report tabled at the provincial legislature pegs the current number of publicly subsidized long-term care beds at 29,595, more than 2,000 beds short of what is needed according to government’s own forecast.
But the report predicts the gap will “grow exponentially” over the next decade to 16,858 beds by 2036.
“So here is the story, we have to build 50 per cent more long-term care beds than exist today to meet the demand,” Levitt said.
If the province doesn’t act, the number of available beds per 1,000 will drop from 58 today to 41 beds by 2036 if they are replaced at the current rate, he said.
He said the current estimated capital cost of a single long-term care bed is $1 million. The figure would put the current price tag for the additional beds at $16 billion over ten years in capital costs, while operational costs would be about $100,000 per bed.
Levitt said the capital costs of long-term care are “increasing dramatically.”
But government finds money for other things in the budget, he said.
“Seniors who require long-term care … deserve to have those beds available to them when they need them,” he said. “It’s less expensive for someone to live at home than it is in long-term care.”
Levitt said the shortage of long-term care beds also costs the overall economy by reducing productivity and raising personal costs.