NDP promises new urgent care centre in District of North Vancouver if re-elected

The B.C. NDP promised Sunday to open a new urgent and primary care centre in the District of North Vancouver if the party is re-elected, targeting the eastern part of the district where residents face mobility challenges accessing the existing facility at 221 Esplanade in the City of North Vancouver.

Susie Chant, the incumbent NDP MLA candidate for North Vancouver-Seymour and a registered nurse, said the region needs "another urgent care centre farther east in the District of North Vancouver – where many people also have mobility challenges and find the existing urgent care centre hard to get to." The existing centre opened eight years ago.

An urgent care centre provides a level of care between a regular doctor visit and a hospital emergency department, typically for medical problems not needing immediate attention but urgent enough for care within about a day. These facilities operate extended hours and on weekends, serving people without family doctors. B.C. currently operates 48 urgent care centres, and the NDP has promised new ones for over a dozen communities throughout the province.

Wait times underscore the need: on Tuesday afternoon, the existing urgent care centre reported a wait of almost five hours, while Lions Gate Hospital's emergency department had an estimated four-hour wait. North Vancouver's attachment rate to primary care providers stands at 86 per cent as of July 2026, the sixth highest in B.C. according to Ministry of Health data. The North Shore Division of Family Practice says there is capacity to connect an additional 43,000 people with existing family doctors and is encouraging residents to register with the Health Connect Registry, an online portal for matching with providers.

Chant said the Division has made significant progress connecting people, calling it "a big switch from five years ago." Details on the new District centre — including opening date, exact location, and cost — will be worked out between the province and Vancouver Coastal Health. West Vancouver residents and politicians have also raised the need for an urgent care centre, but the riding was not included in the NDP's campaign promises for new facilities.