The BC Centre for Palliative Care (BC-CPC) is advancing collaborative efforts to strengthen a palliative approach to care in long-term care (LTC) settings across British Columbia. Through the Long-Term Care Collaborative for a Palliative Approach, health authorities, long-term care leaders, clinicians, and provincial partners are working to embed palliative principles into everyday care and better support residents and families throughout the long-term care journey.

A Palliative Approach Begins on Move-In Day

A palliative approach is not limited to the final days of life. It supports people living with serious, progressive health conditions by prioritizing quality of life, comfort, dignity, and care that reflects what matters most to each resident.

In long-term care, this means having meaningful conversations about goals of care, planning proactively for changing health needs, and recognizing and responding to symptoms early. It also means supporting families as they navigate changes, difficult decisions, and loss.

By integrating this approach from the time a resident moves into long-term care, care teams can focus on quality of life throughout the resident’s journey rather than responding only when health deteriorates. Achieving this requires shared priorities, practical guidance, and collaboration across the health system.

Working Together to Strengthen Care

Following a provincial round table convened by BC-CPC in partnership with Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care (SPA-LTC) in February 2024, provincial partners established a collaborative to identify priorities and support the integration of a palliative approach into long-term care.

The Collaborative brings together representatives from all five regional health authorities, Providence Health Care, contracted long-term care homes, BC-CPC, and the Ministry of Health. The Independent Long-Term Care Councils Association of BC is a key contributing partner.

One important outcome is Essential Elements of a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care in BC, published in February 2025. It outlines key clinical and policy practices, including goals-of-care conversations, comfort and symptom management, and care planning that prioritizes quality of life. The Collaborative has also developed resources outlining recommended quality indicators to help organizations assess implementation and identify opportunities for improvement.

Why Consistent Measures Matter

Shared principles help define what good care should look like, but organizations also need ways to understand whether those principles are being put into practice. Meaningful quality indicators can help identify gaps, monitor progress, and guide improvements in care delivery.

This is important across the hospice palliative care sector. Without consistent definitions and measures, it can be difficult to compare information, understand differences in service availability, or identify where resources and additional support are most needed. Reliable information helps health system partners and organizations make better-informed decisions about service planning, access, and quality at the end of life.

This is also a priority reflected in BCHPCA’s work to standardize hospice data practices. Although BCHPCA’s framework focuses on community hospice services and BC-CPC’s indicators address long-term care, both initiatives demonstrate the value of consistent information in understanding current services, identifying gaps, and informing improvement.

Building a More Connected Approach to Care

Residents and families may need support from multiple providers and services as health needs change. Strengthening practices within long-term care, alongside a better understanding of community-based hospice services and capacity, can contribute to more coordinated care and clearer pathways to support.

The Long-Term Care Collaborative demonstrates how provincial partners can translate shared priorities into practical resources and meaningful measures. Continued collaboration, implementation, and quality improvement will be essential to making a palliative approach a consistent part of long-term care across British Columbia.

Ultimately, this work is about ensuring residents receive care that respects their dignity, reflects their preferences, and supports their quality of life. Clear practices, consistent measures, and collaboration across care settings are important steps toward achieving that goal.

For more information, visit the BC-CPC Long-Term Care Collaborative for a Palliative Approach (2023–2026) page to learn more about the initiative and explore its resources.

After the municipal elections help your new council get to know hospice Palliative care

Have you congratulated your newly elected or returning local representatives? This is an opportunity to introduce your community hospice society, renew relationships and keep compassionate communities on the local agenda.

Following BC’s October 17 municipal elections, communities are welcoming new leaders alongside returning mayors, councillors and regional district directors.

For hospice societies, both change and continuity offer an opening. New representatives may be unfamiliar with your work. Returning representatives may welcome an update on the people you support, emerging community needs and opportunities to work together.

Three steps for hospice societies this week

1. Send congratulations.
Recognize newly elected and returning representatives, introduce your society and thank outgoing representatives for their service where appropriate.

2. Share your local impact.
Include a brief description of your services and two or three local figures: people supported, volunteers involved or hours contributed. Explain how your work supports people through serious illness, caregiving, dying and grief.

3. Invite a conversation.
Offer a short meeting or hospice visit after council’s inauguration. Identify one practical area for collaboration, such as accessible community space, caregiver supports, grief awareness, volunteer recognition or age-friendly planning.

Keep outreach nonpartisan and extend the invitation across council, regardless of party, slate or incumbency. Relationships built now can support collaboration throughout the term.

Resources to help you get started

Our 2026 BC Elections Resources page includes tools you can personalize:

• Media Toolkit BC Elections 2026: adapt the “Sample Email to Candidate” into a congratulations and introduction message.

• Local Candidate Meeting Guide: prepare a focused conversation and plan your follow-up.

• Community Impact Sheet: share a concise picture of your hospice society’s contribution.

A simple opening could be:

“Congratulations on your election to serve [community]. On behalf of [hospice society], we look forward to working with you to strengthen a compassionate community for people experiencing serious illness, caregiving and grief. We would welcome an opportunity to introduce our work and hear your priorities.”

Provincial election reminder: vote this Saturday

BC’s provincial election Final Voting Day is Saturday, October 24, 2026.

If you have not yet voted, make a plan and visit Elections BC for voting locations, identification requirements and accessibility information.

BCHPCA encourages eligible British Columbians to participate and consider how candidates will support access to hospice palliative care, caregivers, and grief and bereavement services.

Have you connected with your local representatives? Let us know what you are hearing and where BCHPCA can support 

The debate offers an opportunity to hear how party leaders propose to address health care and other provincial priorities, and to consider where hospice palliative care, caregivers, and grief and bereavement supports fit within those plans.

Debate Details: Participating leaders are:

• David Eby, BC NDP
• Lorne Doerkson, interim BC Conservative leader
• Emily Lowan, BC Greens

How to watch
The debate will air through participating broadcasters, including CBC BC, CTV Vancouver, Global BC, City TV, etc. An online livestream will also be available through CityNews Vancouver.

Watch the debate here

Health care commitments announced thus far
As of the morning of October 14, selected commitments from the three parties participating in tonight’s debate include:

BC NDP
The party has proposed adding 500 home care workers, removing home care user fees, and moving forward with seven previously paused LTC projects.

Click link below for more details:
https://www.bcndp.ca/releases/bc-ndp-seniors-healthcare-plan-free-vaccines-home-care-long-term-care-david-eby

BC Conservatives
The party has proposed maintaining current health care funding, recruiting and retaining more doctors and nurses, and establishing a $50 million emergency fund to support rural medical practices and help prevent emergency room closures.

Click link below for more details:
https://conservativebc.ca/keep-emergency-rooms-open/

BC Greens
The party’s platform proposes community health centres with team-based care, improved nurse to patient ratios, and mental health care covered through the public system.

Click link below for more details:
https://bcgreens.ca/pledge-funding-for-community-health-centres-in-every-riding-support-for-healthcare-workers/

Please note: these are the current healthcare campaign commitments. This snapshot is not a complete comparison of all parties or platforms.

Where do hospice societies fit?

For BCHPCA and our members, an important question is how broader health care proposals would include community hospice societies, hospice palliative care, caregiver supports, and grief and bereavement services.

As you listen tonight or speak with candidates, consider:

• How will community hospice societies be included in health-system planning and sustainable funding?

• How will people access hospice palliative care across settings, including at home?

• What support will be available for caregivers and people experiencing grief and bereavement?

• How will access improve in rural and remote communities?

• What timelines, funding, and accountability measures accompany the commitments?

Use BCHPCA’s election resources

Our 2026 BC Elections Resources page includes provincial and local candidate toolkits to support informed, nonpartisan conversations about hospice care and community supports.

Access BCHPCA’s election resources

Members are welcome to share written candidate responses or public announcements relating to hospice palliative care, caregiver supports, and grief and bereavement with office@bchpca.org.

Remember the upcoming voting dates:

• Local elections: Saturday, October 17, 2026

• Provincial election: Saturday, October 24, 2026

Visit Elections BC for voting information.

BCHPCA’s election resources and engagement are nonpartisan. Our focus is ensuring that hospice palliative care and community supports remain visible in discussions about BC’s future.

British Columbia will hold a provincial election on Saturday, October 24, 2026 , following Premier David Eby's announcement on September 22.

The provincial election will take place just one week after B.C.'s scheduled local government elections on October 17 , creating two important opportunities for communities to learn about candidates' positions on health, community care and local services.

For the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) and our network of hospice societies, this is a timely opportunity to maintain awareness of the essential role of community hospice palliative care across British Columbia.

Why This Matters to Hospice Societies
Hospice societies contribute to the well-being of individuals, families and communities through end-of-life care, grief and bereavement support, volunteer programs, education and connections to health and community services.

Many societies serve communities outside British Columbia's major metropolitan and large urban centres, with the network heavily represented across rural hubs, rural, remote and small-urban communities.

These experiences provide an important perspective on the accessibility, coordination and sustainability of community-based care.

As candidates share their priorities for British Columbia, BCHPCA will continue to communicate the needs and contributions of hospice societies through consistent, evidence-informed and non-partisan government-relations work.

BCHPCA's Provincial Priorities
BCHPCA's ongoing work includes:

• Recognition and integration of community hospice societies within provincial health-system planning.
  
• Equitable access to hospice palliative care across rural, remote and underserved communities.
  
• Sustainable support for community-based grief and bereavement services.
  
• Improved use of standardized hospice data to inform planning, service delivery and investment.
  
• Stronger collaboration among hospice societies, health authorities, governments and community partners.
  

These priorities are reflected in BCHPCA's report, Building the Missing Pathway for Hospice Palliative Care in British Columbia , and our ongoing work with members and provincial partners.
Two Elections, Two Distinct Opportunities for Community Awareness

The local and provincial elections concern different levels of government, each with responsibilities that affect the communities hospice societies serve.

BCHPCA is continuing to develop resources to help societies understand these distinctions and participate in informed, respectful and non-partisan discussions about community hospice palliative care.

We recognize that local election activity is already underway. As provincial campaigning begins, we will continue to share relevant developments and information with members.

Stay Connected
BCHPCA will monitor election developments and provide updates relevant to the hospice palliative care sector.

We also welcome members sharing emerging issues, regional experiences and questions that may help inform our government relations and member support work.

Official election information and reporting:

• Elections BC
  
• 2026 General Local Elections
  
• Global News: B.C. provincial election to be held in October
  

BCHPCA is a non-partisan provincial association. Our government relations work focuses on communicating the experiences and needs of hospice societies and supporting informed public discussion about hospice palliative care.

Recent changes in BC’s political landscape bring renewed attention to the importance of a strong, consistent voice for community hospice palliative care and grief and bereavement supports.

Peter Milobar now leads CentreBC, which lists eight sitting MLAs among its team. The realignment changes the political relationships through which community organizations can raise priorities and inform policy. View CentreBC’s current leadership and MLA team.

Discussion of a possible early provincial election is also increasing. BCHPCA is monitoring developments, while distinguishing speculation from a formal election call. Members can consult Elections BC for official election information.

Why this matters to hospice societies

Political change can affect the timing of policy discussions, funding decisions and opportunities to engage elected representatives. It makes it especially important that decision-makers understand how hospice societies support people living with serious illness, caregivers and those experiencing grief.

For BCHPCA, the priorities remain clear:

• Sustainable community services: Funding that supports continuity, trained staff and volunteers, and dependable access to care.
• Access close(r) to home: Recognition of the barriers faced across rural hubs, remote and small-urban communities.
• Grief and bereavement support: Recognition of these services as an essential part of health care and community well-being.
• Support for caregivers: Practical help for families navigating serious illness, dying and loss.

BCHPCA’s advocacy remains nonpartisan and grounded in the experiences of our members and the communities they serve.

Help bring your community’s experience into the conversation

What is the most pressing issue you want provincial decision-makers to understand?

We invite member societies and the public to share a brief example of an unmet need, a service pressure or a local solution that deserves attention. This might include transportation barriers, caregiver strain, demand for grief support or the challenges of sustaining services with uncertain funding.

Please share examples without identifying clients or families. Your insights can help strengthen BCHPCA’s provincial advocacy and show what access to compassionate care means in everyday life.

Send your local priorities to BCHPCA through your usual association contact or for the general public via our office@bchpca.org email.

As the political landscape develops, our focus remains on ensuring that people facing serious illness, caregiving and grief can access the support they need in their communities.

BCHPCA Team 

The BC Legislative Assembly is scheduled to return on October 5, 2026, beginning the fall sitting at an important time for health care, community services and the development of Budget 2027.

For the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association, the return of the Legislature is also an opportunity to continue bringing the experiences of hospice societies, patients, families, caregivers and communities into provincial conversations.

Throughout the fall, BCHPCA will be monitoring provincial developments that may affect hospice palliative care and the communities our members serve, including:

• access to hospice and palliative care across British Columbia;
• sustainability of community-based hospice services;
• grief and bereavement supports;
• rural, remote and regional access to care;
• health workforce and system capacity;
• supports for caregivers and families; and
• provincial funding, policy and Budget 2027 developments affecting the sector.

We want to hear from our members

Provincial advocacy is strongest when it is grounded in what is happening locally.

As the Legislature returns, we invite BCHPCA members to tell us:

• What is the most significant pressure facing hospice/palliative care in your community right now?
• What change in provincial policy, funding or coordination would make the greatest difference?
• Is there a local example, emerging issue or promising practice that provincial decision makers should know about?

Your input helps BCHPCA identify common themes across the province, strengthen our evidence and ensure our government relations work reflects the realities of communities throughout British Columbia.

We will continue to keep members informed as the fall legislative session progresses.

Together, we can help ensure hospice palliative care, grief and bereavement, and the needs of people living with serious illness remain visible in provincial conversations.

Government Relations Inquiry Contact:
Pablita Thomas, Executive Director
BC Hospice Palliative Care Association
pablita.thomas@bchpca.org
Main Line: (604) 267-7024

The BC Rural Health Network has named BCHPCA Executive Director Pablita Thomas its September 2026 Member of the Month, highlighting her leadership and BCHPCA’s work to strengthen hospice and palliative care across British Columbia, including in rural and remote communities.

In the feature, Pablita discusses what good end-of-life care can look like when it is close to home, community-based and centred on the needs, values and choices of each person. She highlights how hospice care is not limited to dedicated facilities, but is delivered by organizations and care teams in homes, long-term care, assisted living and other community settings across BC.

The feature also explores issues that are important to BCHPCA members and the broader sector, including improving access in rural and remote communities, strengthening the palliative approach among local healthcare providers, and recognizing the cultural and spiritual dimensions of care. Pablita also speaks to the important role that community-based services can play in helping people remain in their communities while easing pressure on the acute-care system.

For BCHPCA and our members, these conversations reinforce the importance of building a strong, sustainable and responsive community hospice sector that reflects the diverse needs of people and communities across BC.

As Pablita shared:

“Hospice palliative care is not about dying. It's about living your full life until you pass.”

We congratulate Pablita on this recognition and thank the BC Rural Health Network for highlighting the important work of hospice and palliative care organizations across BC.

Read the full feature: Member of the Month September 2026: Pablita Thomas – BC Hospice and Palliative Care Association - BC Rural Health Network

Because compassionate communities are built locally and Hospice is community.

With British Columbians heading to the polls for the 2026 General Local Elections, BCHPCA has launched a new collection of election resources to help hospice societies, candidates and community members bring hospice palliative care into the local conversation.

Municipalities may not fund healthcare directly, but their decisions shape how communities care for people. Local governments influence community planning, transportation, housing, volunteerism, emergency preparedness, age-friendly initiatives, public spaces and local partnerships, all of which can affect people living with serious illness, caregivers and those experiencing grief and bereavement.

Hospice societies are already deeply rooted in these communities. Each year, they support thousands of British Columbians through grief and bereavement programs, caregiver education, volunteer services, compassionate-community initiatives, and home and residential hospice care.

Our new 2026 BC Local Election Resources provide practical tools to help make this work visible and begin meaningful, non-partisan conversations with local candidates.

The resource page includes:

• A Municipal Candidate Toolkit
• A Local Candidate Meeting Guide
• A customizable Community Impact Sheet
• A Social Media Toolkit
• Community engagement ideas
• Suggested questions for candidates and voters
• Additional advocacy and knowledge resources

Hospice societies can use these tools to invite candidates for a visit, host a candidate coffee or open house, attend an all-candidates meeting, share their community impact, or begin building relationships that continue well beyond election day.

Community members can also use the page to learn about hospice and ask candidates how they will support caregivers, healthy aging, grief and bereavement initiatives, and compassionate communities.

Election day is Saturday, October 17, 2026.

Hospice is community. Let’s make sure care, compassion and connection are part of the local election conversation.

Explore the 2026 BC Local Election Resources

BCHPCA is available to help members and community partners prepare for candidate meetings, adapt the resources and share what is happening in their communities.
Contact Pablita Thomas at pablita.thomas@bchpca.org for support.

The Government of British Columbia has announced several changes to Cabinet following Minister Brenda Bailey’s decision to take a leave for cancer treatment and recovery.

First and foremost, BCHPCA extends our warm wishes to Minister Bailey and her family as she focuses on her treatment and recovery.

As part of the Cabinet changes, the Honourable Ravi Kahlon has been appointed B.C.’s new Minister of Health, succeeding Josie Osborne, who has moved to the Ministry of Finance.

This transition also offers an important moment to reflect on something at the heart of our sector: the experience of serious illness extends far beyond medical treatment alone.

Palliative care is not only care for the final days or weeks of life. It can begin alongside treatment and help people and their families navigate the physical, emotional, psychosocial and practical realities that can accompany a serious illness, through treatment, changing health needs, recovery, survivorship and, when needed, end-of-life care.

Across British Columbia, hospice societies are an important part of that continuum. They provide compassionate community-based supports, including counselling, caregiver support, grief and bereavement programs, navigation, volunteer services and connections that help people and families feel less alone through some of life's most difficult experiences.

As Minister Kahlon takes on the health portfolio, BCHPCA looks forward to welcoming him and continuing our work with the Province to advance access to hospice and palliative care and strengthen the role of community hospice societies within B.C.'s broader health care system.

Because access to palliative care should not begin only when treatment ends. It should be part of how we care for people throughout serious illness, when and where they need it.

Read the Announcement Here.

Every child living with a serious illness deserves access to compassionate, high-quality hospice palliative care, and every family deserves to be supported throughout their journey.

The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA), in partnership with Canada’s Pediatric Palliative Care Alliance, has launched the Short Lives Can’t Wait campaign to raise awareness of the urgent need for equitable access to children’s hospice palliative care across Canada.

The campaign highlights a significant gap in care: only 18% of children who could have benefited from specialized pediatric palliative care received it. Among those who did receive specialized support, one in four received care for fewer than eight days before their death. These figures underscore the importance of ensuring children and families can access palliative care early, not only at the end of life, but throughout the course of a serious illness.

Access remains particularly challenging for children and families living in rural, remote, northern, and equity-deserving communities. As of November 2023, only 17 specialized pediatric palliative care programs had been identified across Canada, with most located in larger urban centres.

Short Lives Can’t Wait calls for action in four key areas:

• Equitable access to care — expanding children’s hospice palliative care services across all regions and integrating palliative care earlier throughout a child’s illness journey.
• Support for families and caregivers — recognizing caregivers as essential partners and strengthening access to respite, practical, emotional, and financial supports.
• Grief and bereavement support — ensuring children, parents, siblings, and families have access to culturally safe and ongoing grief and bereavement care.
• Building a stronger future — strengthening national collaboration, research, education, workforce development, and sustainable investment in pediatric palliative care.

A Shared Commitment to Children and Families

BCHPCA recognizes the importance of this national call to action. In British Columbia, hospice societies and community-based providers play an important role in supporting children and families facing serious illness, while also providing compassionate grief and bereavement support.

Equitable access to hospice palliative care means ensuring that children and families receive the right care, at the right time, in the location that best meets their needs. It also means recognizing that support for families does not end when a child dies. Grief and bereavement care are an essential part of the continuum of support.

The Short Lives Can’t Wait campaign is an important reminder that early access matters. No child or family should have to wait until the final days of life to receive the specialized care, support, and compassion they need.

BCHPCA encourages our members, partners, health care providers, and communities to learn more about the campaign and help raise awareness of the importance of equitable pediatric hospice palliative care across Canada.

Learn more about the Short Lives Can’t Wait campaign

Read the original eHospice Canada article