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2026 BC Local Election Resources

Building Compassionate Communities: Hospice & Palliative Care in the 2026 BC Local Elections

Why Local Government Matters

Hospice Care Begins in Community

Every day, local governments make decisions that shape compassionate communities. While municipalities don't fund healthcare directly, they influence:

  • community partnerships
  • public awareness
  • volunteerism
  • age-friendly planning
  • recreation and community spaces
  • emergency preparedness
  • transportation
  • housing
  • healthy community initiatives


Hospice societies are community organizations that support thousands of residents each year through grief support, caregiver education, compassionate communities, volunteer services, and home and residential (health facility) hospice care.
Local elections are about the kind of communities we want to live in. Caring for people through serious illness, caregiving, dying and grief is part of that conversation.

Together, municipalities and hospice societies can ensure people receive compassionate care close to home.

Election day is:
Saturday, October 17, 2026

Please remember to get out and vote!

Visit the Elections BC website for more information



A Municipal Candidate Toolkit

Download

What every candidate should know:
Did you know...

  • Hospice societies support more than 120,000 British Columbians every year.
  • Most hospice services are provided by charities.
  • Grief and bereavement support is available to anyone and everyone in community.
  • Over 3400 Hospice Volunteers contribute hundreds of thousands of support hours annually.
  • Community hospice societies save healthcare millions of dollars annually.
  • Every community can become more compassionate.

Five things local governments can do:
Examples:

✓ Meet with your local hospice society.

✓ Visit your local hospice.

✓ Include hospice in Age Friendly planning.

✓ Support community awareness events.

✓ Recognize Hospice Palliative Care Week.

✓ Partner on grief and bereavement education.

✓ Ensure hospice societies are considered in community planning.


Candidate Corner:

Questions Candidates Can Ask

  1. What services does your hospice provide?
  2. How many people do you support?
  3. What challenges do families face locally?
  4. How can the municipality help?
  5. What partnerships already exist?
  6. How can councils support compassionate communities?

Resources for Hospice Societies

Local Candidate Meeting Guide

Download

Community Impact Sheet

Download

Social Media Toolkit


Download

Community Engagement Ideas

  • Host a Candidate Coffee
  • Invite all candidates equally.
  • Offer tours.
  • Host an open house.
  • Attend all candidates meetings.
  • Invite candidates to volunteer.
  • Host a grief awareness walk.
  • Set up an information booth.

Hospice is Community

  • Hospice care is about neighbours helping neighbours.
  • Compassion Lives in Hospice Palliative Care
  • Every community deserves access to hospice palliative care and grief support.
  • Strong Communities Care for People at Every Stage of Life
  • Grief Touches Everyone
  • Hospice societies provide support long before and after death.
  • Local hospice volunteers provide thousands of hours of care every year.

For Voters:

We encourage community members to ask candidates:

  1. How will you support healthy aging?
  2. How will you support caregivers?
  3. How will you build compassionate communities?
  4. Will you visit your local hospice?
  5. How will your municipality support grief and bereavement initiatives?

We're Here To Support You

BCHPCA is here to support hospice societies and community partners as you engage with local candidates and elected leaders throughout the 2026 General Local Elections.

If you need guidance, support preparing for a candidate meeting, help adapting these resources, or want to share what is happening in your community, please reach out.

Pablita Thomas
Executive Director
BC Hospice Palliative Care Association
pablita.thomas@bchpca.org

Let us know how your conversations go. What we learn from communities across BC will help BCHPCA continue to strengthen relationships, advocacy and the collective voice of hospice palliative care beyond the election.

Additional Resources to Support Advocacy & Knowledge Exchange


Hospice Directory

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Donate to BCHPCA

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Shop our Store

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About the association

BCHPCA represents its members: individuals and organizations that deliver hospice/palliative care and bereavement services and programs across British Columbia and the Yukon Territory.

Contact us

Email: office@bchpca.org
Main Line: (604) 267-7024
Toll Free: 1-(877) 410-6297

Unit 1100- 1200 West 73rd Ave,
Vancouver, BC, V6P 6G5

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The BC Hospice Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) recognizes the traditional land of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples who have walked before us and minded the lands we now call home for time immemorial. Hospice Societies have been able to support, aid and care for many people on these same lands.

The BCHPCA Offices are located on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and TsleilWaututh Nations.


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