Burnaby Hospital emergency and surgical upgrades restart with $210 million commitment

Burnaby Hospital's long-delayed emergency department and surgical unit upgrades are moving forward after being abruptly cancelled in April, Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma announced September 21.

Work will begin immediately on modernizing the emergency department with 13 additional treatment spaces, expanded areas for patients and families, and upgraded mechanical systems. The surgical unit expansion will add 42 renovated perioperative preparation and recovery bays, four upgraded operating rooms, and an integrated sterile core serving all 10 operating rooms and four minor procedure rooms. The provincial government is committing $210 million to both upgrades.

The project was one of nine cancelled in April 2026 following the release of Budget 2026, which announced project timelines would be "repaced" but did not publicly disclose the cancellations at the time. Ma called the pause "brief."

Initial procurement is expected to be completed by early 2027, with detailed design and construction to follow. Phase 2 of the hospital's broader redevelopment will proceed after the emergency and surgical work is complete. The cancellations were triggered by estimated budgets coming in well over original projections.

Beyond Burnaby, the province cancelled seven long-term care projects in Budget 2026 — in Delta, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Fort St. John, and Squamish. Those projects carried estimated costs upward of $1.8 million per bed, which Ma described as "extraordinary" and "unacceptable." The government is now working with health authorities on a path forward and creating standardized designs to reduce the per-bed cost. Ma said progress on the long-term care projects has been "promising."

Mayors, hospital foundations, and provincial seniors advocates had protested the original cancellation decision. Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley said the community had felt abandoned by the province.