BC NDP leader David Eby is promising to expand access to primary care through new clinics, extended appointment hours, and accelerated training for internationally educated health care professionals.
Eby outlines his healthcare plan:
— Sitka Media (@sitkamedia) October 9, 2026
- Fast-track international doctors' ability to work in BC
- Build 20 new primary-care clinics
- Expand same day/after-hours appointments
- Train additional 1,000 healthcare workers
- Encourage healthcare professionals to work in rural BC pic.twitter.com/pFl2yaOjvW
The plan, announced Friday in Surrey, includes opening 20 additional team-based primary care clinics, expanding same-day appointments, and offering more evening and weekend services to reduce pressure on hospital emergency departments.
“Better and faster care means avoiding visits to the emergency room,” Eby said. “That's why our plan will get qualified internationally trained doctors and nurses onto the front lines while we extend hours in clinics so it’s easier to get an appointment when you need one.”
A key component of the proposal is a new accelerated “Bridging to Practice” program that would help qualified international medical graduates already living in BC enter family medicine despite limited residency opportunities.
The party is also pledging 1,000 additional training seats for nurses, nurse practitioners, allied health workers, and care aides, including a 20% increase in nursing seats.
Asked about physician retention and safety concerns in hospitals, BC NDP leader David Eby says his party is focused on keeping health care workers in the system through incentives for doctors and safer patient-to-nurse ratios:
— Sitka Media (@sitkamedia) October 9, 2026
“We don't want to be adding physicians in the front… pic.twitter.com/FVa2eVEi4Z
To address staffing shortages in rural communities, the BC NDP would offer discounted tuition, student loan forgiveness, and moving expense support to attract health care professionals to underserved areas.
The party says more than one million British Columbians have been connected to a family doctor or nurse practitioner under the NDP, with approximately 4,000 additional patients being attached each week.
The announcement also comes amid a dispute between the two major parties over the cost of their election commitments. Eby argued the BC Conservatives' proposals would put health care funding at risk, while defending his party's plan to increase taxes on higher-income earners.
The BC NDP's latest health care commitments follow earlier campaign promises to expand medical imaging capacity and improve surgical wait times.
British Columbians head to the polls on October 24.
