British Columbia is adding long-term care beds at a pace that falls far short of the rapidly growing seniors population, according to new data released Tuesday by the Office of the Seniors Advocate.

The office’s newly published 2025 Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Directory shows the number of long-term care beds in B.C. has increased by just 5% since 2019–20, while the population of residents aged 65 and older has grown by 19% over the same period.

“We are at the beginning of a rapid increase in the number of people 65 and over,” said B.C. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt. “The gap between the seniors’ population and older adults requiring public services will only widen if we don’t act now.”

The directory provides detailed information on 301 long-term care facilities and 133 assisted living residences across the province. It reports that four new publicly subsidized long-term care homes, adding 513 beds, opened in 2024–25 in Kamloops, Aldergrove, Victoria and Prince George. Since 2019–20, six new facilities and 1,437 beds have been added.

At the same time, the number of publicly subsidized assisted living units declined slightly last year, with seven fewer units than the previous year.

Levitt said wait lists and wait times for long-term care and assisted living continue to grow, placing significant strain on seniors and family caregivers.

“Public home support services remain unaffordable for many seniors and don’t provide adequate help for older people to age at home,” he said. “The stories I hear from families at their breaking point caring for their loved ones are heartbreaking.”

According to ministry data cited in the report, B.C. will need approximately 16,000 additional long-term care beds over the next decade. However, the Ministry of Health’s current 10-year expansion plan calls for just 2,935 new beds between 2025 and 2030, with no additional beds planned beyond that date.

The Seniors Advocate’s office estimates there is already a shortfall of about 2,000 beds, a gap that could grow dramatically as the seniors population is projected to increase by 26% over the next 10 years.

The directory, updated annually and accessed more than 80,000 times each year, includes information on care quality and system performance, such as staffing levels, room configurations, food spending, medication use, physical restraints, care complexity, complaints, reportable incidents and inspection results.

New this year is the inclusion of wait-time data for non-urgent admissions from the community, as well as all new admissions from both hospitals and the community.

While the report notes some improvements — including more single rooms, fewer multi-bed rooms and increased funding per bed — Levitt said significant concerns remain.

Use of antipsychotic medications without a diagnosis of psychosis continues to exceed the national average, and both substantiated complaints and reportable incidents increased last year.

The directory and summary report draw on data from care facilities, health authorities, the Ministry of Health, the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the BC Centre for Disease Control. This marks the 11th edition of the directory released by the Office of the Seniors Advocate.

The full directory and related reports are available on the Seniors Advocate’s website.