The province says many projects have been delayed, leading to money allocated for capital projects but not spent last year
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The new St. Paul’s Hospital, the Surrey rapid transit expansion and improvements to Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley are among projects impacted by what the province is calling budget “slippage,” delays due to labour shortages, and supply chain challenges.
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On Monday, the NDP government admitted that $4 billion of its $15 billion capital plan for the 2025-26 fiscal year went unspent, representing roughly 25 per cent of the total.
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Following that revelation, Postmedia and other news organizations asked for a breakdown of the projects, learning that it covers everything from schools to cancer centres to hospitals.
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Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said Monday that unlike projects that had their contracts cancelled or were sent back to the drawing board as part of the fiscal 2026-27 budget announcement in February, including Phase 2 of the Burnaby Hospital expansion and seven long-term care homes, the projects that account for the unspent money are still proceeding — but at slower speeds.
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“It’s not the same thing as repacing. Repacing is a deliberate pulling back of a project and looking at when we can deliver it and how to keep the costs down,” said Bailey.
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“The projects that are experiencing slippage, maybe it’s a five-year build, and part of the build didn’t happen in year two but will happen in year three as part of a longer project. So they’re different things.”
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A list of the projects provided to Postmedia by the ministry of finance shows that spending on health care infrastructure was $1.8 billion less than expected last year, with $120 million of slippage occurring on the new St. Paul’s Hospital, which is scheduled to open next year.
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A similar amount, $119 million, went unspent on the new Cowichan District Hospital, which is also scheduled to open next year.
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Smaller amounts of $78 million and $61 million were budgeted but not used for Phase 1 of the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment and the new hospital and cancer centre in Surrey.
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Capital spending by the B.C. Transportation and Financing Authority on infrastructure projects was also $1.2 billion less than anticipated, with $178 million and $117 million not spent on the Surrey rapid transit expansion and Highway 1 improvements between Mt. Lehman and Highway 11, respectively.
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The Broadway subway project also spent $105 million less than expected last year, and efforts to repair damage from a landslide on Highway 97 near the Cottonwood River north of Quesnel also fell $108 million short of what was anticipated.
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Post-secondary institutions and school districts have slowed down projects, with $350 million going unspent for post-secondary school expansions, including Vancouver Community College’s Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation. School districts deferred $116 million of spending, including on Burke Mountain Secondary in Coquitlam and the new East Side Elementary in Chilliwack.
