Family Caregiving · BC Long-Term Care

Waiting for a Long-Term Care Bed in BC? Here's What Families Are Doing in the Meantime

If your parent has been assessed and approved for long-term care but there's no bed available yet, you're not alone — and you're not without options while you wait.

If you've recently gone through a long-term care assessment for a parent or spouse, you already know the hard part isn't just getting approved — it's what happens after. Being told your loved one qualifies for a care home bed and then being handed a waitlist number is one of the more disorienting moments in caregiving, and right now in British Columbia, that wait is longer than it's been in years.

Why the wait is longer than it used to be

British Columbia's long-term care system is under real strain. According to B.C.'s Seniors Advocate, the number of people waiting for a long-term care bed has climbed from 2,381 in 2016 to 7,212 today, and the average wait for a bed has nearly doubled to around 290 days. That's roughly nine to ten months of uncertainty for a family that has already been told their loved one needs a higher level of care than they're currently getting.

The 2026 provincial budget added to the pressure rather than easing it. Planned long-term care facility construction was paused in several communities, including Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Kelowna, and Delta — projects that were meant to help close this exact gap. Advocates and care-sector groups have been vocal that the current system, which leans heavily on family caregivers to fill the space between assessment and placement, isn't built to sustain waits this long.

What families are doing while they wait

The months between assessment and placement don't have to be managed alone, and they don't have to mean choosing between quitting a job and leaving a parent unsupported. Families in this position are generally combining a few things:

1. Public home support, where it's available

Health authorities can provide a certain number of home support hours to seniors on the long-term care waitlist, though the intensity of that support often doesn't scale up the way families expect as a parent's needs increase while waiting. It's worth confirming directly with your case manager exactly what's currently authorized, since this can be adjusted if circumstances change.

2. Private in-home care to fill the gap

This is where most of the flexibility lives. Private home care can start within days rather than months, and — unlike a fixed public allocation — the hours can scale up as your loved one's needs do: a few hours of companionship and safety checks at first, moving to daily personal care, and up to full 24/7 live-in support if a placement continues to be delayed. Families often use this stretch of time to also build a relationship with a consistent caregiver, which matters both for day-to-day comfort and, later, for a smoother transition whenever a bed does become available.

3. A clear-eyed plan for what happens once a bed opens up

It's worth deciding in advance, as a family, whether you'll accept the first available bed in the health region or hold out for a specific facility — this affects how long the wait tends to be in practice. Your case manager can walk through how placement offers work and what happens if one is declined.

Frequently Asked Questions