NDP announces seniors’ health care plan at Victoria stop
Published 1:36 pm Monday, October 5, 2026
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After watching a few shots at the Victoria Curling Club, NDP leader David Eby, joined by other South Island NDP candidates, laid out a seniors’ health care plan as the campaign trail continues ahead of Oct. 24.
“In terms of health care, though, when I think about groups that are particularly concerned about and interested in the future of health care in the province, it’s the people who helped build this province, the seniors,” he told media. For seniors in our province, they want to know a couple things. Are we going to help them stay out of the hospital? And if they need more support, are they going to be able to get the care that they need?”
On Sunday, Oct. 4, the party announced increased taxes for about the top four per cent of earners in B.C., which they said would go towards health care and education funding. At the curling club on Oct. 5, he said the seniors plan is “some of where that money is going to go.”
Eby said they would hire 500 health-care workers to give seniors better support, scrapping user fees, and expanding virtual long-term care at home monitoring, which he says will help over 5,000 more seniors stay in their homes longer.
Bringing more nurse practitioners, pharmacy services, and virtual specialist consultations into long-term care homes so residents can avoid trips to hospital, and setting up more teams to support patients ready to leave hospital and return to community-based care.
“A senior being able to stay at home longer is a win for everybody. It means less pressure on our hospitals. It means less pressure on family caregivers. It means more dignity for seniors,” he said.
He also said they will be moving ahead with seven long-term care projects that had been paused during the budget announcement in February.
“We had one facility that was going to come in at $1.8 million a bed. And given the scale of what we have to do in long-term care, we couldn’t go ahead with that. So, today’s announcement is about how we’ve driven down the cost per bed by standardizing these long-term care facilities,” he said, adding the first facility they’ll build is the Oak Bay Lodge.
On top of those, he also pledged to make the shingles vaccine free for adults over 50 and all immunocompromised adults to reduce loads on hospitals; and bringing 5,000 care-home workers back into the public health employer system to ensure stable staffing.
“If there’s one issue that keeps me awake at night, it’s making sure that British Columbians get the care that they need every single day. Today’s announcement goes a long way in that direction for British Columbia seniors,” Eby concluded.