Hospitals, roads, bridges: Capital spending soars in B.C. budget

The emergency entrance at Surrey Memorial Hospital is pictured in Surrey, B.C., on Sept. 9, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns)

The provincial government continues to dramatically increase its taxpayer-supported capital projects with $15.4 billion in planned spending for the 2025-26 budget.

It shows a dramatic increase when compared to the $3.9 billion spent in infrastructure projects in the 2017-18 fiscal year.

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The three-year projection through the 2027-28 fiscal year is a whopping $45.9 billion dollars “to deliver critical infrastructure and support 180,000 good-paying jobs,” according to a budget summary provided to journalists.

About a third of that will go towards expansion, upgrading, and new builds for hospitals, cancer care, and long-term care facilities, including a new acute care tower at the University Hospital of Northern BC, the expansion of the Surrey Memorial Hospital, a new secondary Surrey hospital and cancer centre, cancer centres in Nanaimo and Kamloops, and long-term care facilities in Chilliwack, Kelowna and Squamish.