B.C. 2026 Budget Prioritizes Stability, Falls Short on Health Workforce Investment
February 17, 2026
Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of British Columbia (NNPBC) recognize that British Columbia’s 2026 budget is focused on protecting core services during a period of economic uncertainty. The government has emphasized safeguarding health, education and social supports while making targeted investments, including additional health system funding over the next three years.
However, stability without sustainability is not success. This budget largely protects existing services as they are, without clearly resourcing the workforce required to deliver them. Health systems do not operate on infrastructure alone; they rely on nurses, nurse practitioners and other health professionals to provide care every day.
Primary care reform, in particular, cannot be achieved without workforce investment. Attachment targets and expanded access will depend on comprehensive compensation frameworks, team-based supports and retention strategies that reflect how care is actually delivered on the ground, where nursing provides a substantial share of services.
“Budgets that protect services must also invest in the people who deliver them. Without stronger workforce supports, including for nursing professionals, expectations for expanded access and system improvement will be difficult to sustain,” said Angela Wignall, NNPBC CEO.
We also note that capital, education and system capacity investments must be matched with staffing. New hospitals, clinics and training pathways are important, but without a parallel focus on recruitment, retention and working conditions, capacity gains will remain constrained.
The limited visibility of public health in the budget is also concerning. Public health is foundational infrastructure for population health, system resilience and long-term cost containment.
Finally, social policy is health policy. Without stronger action on housing, affordability, food security and poverty reduction, downstream pressures on the health system will continue to grow. Overall, this budget signals a clear expectation to do more with constrained new resources. To translate stability into meaningful system improvement, future investments must more directly align with the health workforce and the realities of care delivery across British Columbia.
Read the province’s full budget and fiscal plan: https://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2026/
Media Contact: media@nnpbc.com