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British Columbia’s nurses won’t be taking job action, after reaching a tentative deal on a new collective agreement on Friday.
It comes after the B.C. Nurses’ Union (BCNU) voted 98.2 per cent in favour to give leadership a strike mandate earlier this month amid stalled contract talks. The union’s last agreement expired in March 2025.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the deal between the Health Employers Association and the union “includes additional funding to support service delivery and improve working conditions” for nurses.
Nurses in B.C. have voted 98 per cent in favour of job action following a strike vote. The B.C. Nurses’ Union said more than 50,000 of its members cast ballots after talks with their employer broke down last month. Union president Adriane Gear said nurses are struggling with burn out and violence.
Full details of the deal won’t be made public until after the union holds a ratification vote, but the ministry said it was based on the Balanced Measures Mandate, the provincial government’s framework for negotiating with public sector unions.
The union says the agreement improves benefits coverage, workplace safety and violence prevention and provides access to “enhanced mandate monies” on top of the province’s general wage increase of 12 per cent over four years.
“The record strike mandate shifted the balance of power at the bargaining table and gave the committee the leverage to push harder, stay at the table longer, and secure meaningful gains for nurses across the province,” BCNU president Adriane Gear said in a statement.
“The bargaining committee believes this represents the strongest agreement achievable through negotiations in this round of bargaining.”
The union says it also negotiated an agreement with the ministry for “significant” additional funding for the implementation of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
B.C. became the first province in Canada to commit to nurse-to-patient ratios in 2024.
More to come.
