Victoria indicatorsAverage wait for a long-term care bed
290 days, average
No target found. Who could set one: Province of B.C. and Island Health. B.C. 287 days. Targets and comparisons
Source: Office of the Seniors Advocate. We read it on Nov 12, 2026.
Over time
Average days waiting for long-term care (people on the list on March 31)
2025 Days, by year
- Island Health 290
- British Columbia 287
P provincial election: Oct 24, 2020; Oct 19, 2024
More charts (1)
People waiting for long-term care on March 31, Island Health
2025 People, by year
- 2,171 people
P provincial election: Oct 24, 2020; Oct 19, 2024
Targets and comparisons
No target found
No target for the wait for a long-term care bed found in the Ministry of Health 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan (February 2026), as of November 12, 2026. Who could set one: the Province of B.C. and Island Health.
Source: Ministry of Health 2026/27 to 2028/29 Service Plan, Province of B.C., February 2026. Area: British Columbia. Updated: Yearly, with the provincial budget (February). Licence: Public document, not under an open licence. Quoted with attribution.
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Island Health | British Columbia |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 290 | 287 |
| 2024 | 246 | 241 |
| 2023 | 199 | 209 |
| 2022 | 173 | 205 |
| 2021 | 140 | 198 |
| 2020 | 136 | 144 |
| Period | Island Health |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2,171 |
| 2024 | 2,157 |
| 2023 | 1,662 |
| 2022 | 1,242 |
| 2021 | 754 |
| 2020 | 825 |
How it compares
Office of the Seniors Advocate, 2025, days. Comparisons are not goals.
Who decides
Province of B.C. Sets provincial standards for health services and appoints Island Health’s board. Health Authorities Act, s. 3
Show the 1 other body and the laws
| Body | What it decides | Law or bylaw |
|---|---|---|
| Province of B.C. | Sets provincial standards for health services and appoints Island Health’s board. | Health Authorities Act, s. 3 Health Authorities Act, s. 4 |
| Island Health | Plans and runs health services in the region: which services, which facilities and the programs that deliver them. | Health Authorities Act, s. 5 |
Province: last general election October 19, 2024; next set for October 21, 2028 unless called earlier (Constitution Act, s. 23).
Each row says what a body decides and links to the law, order or bylaw that gives it that role. It does not say who caused a change: markets, households and other governments also move these numbers. Who decides what, for every measure · How we choose
What this number does not show
- From the Office of the Seniors Advocate’s yearly Monitoring Seniors Services data tables, which take the figures from each health authority. It is the average time people still on the waitlist on March 31 had been waiting, not the wait of people admitted.
One more limit
- Island Health covers all of Vancouver Island; no Greater Victoria figure is published.
Not measured yet in health care: wait to see a specialist before surgery, people waiting for a family doctor in Greater Victoria, waits for detox, and for treatment in Greater Victoria. See all 18 gaps
In plain words
Up 18% in a year. Up 113% since 2020. * 2020 was a pandemic year; 2019 is not used because: the source file has no 2019 figure in the same series.
The average number of days people on Island Health’s waitlist for a long-term care home on March 31 had been waiting, from the Seniors Advocate’s yearly data tables.
How we decide “Worse”
The change is 17.9% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.
A shorter average wait means people get a long-term care bed sooner. 290 days on average for the 2,171 people waiting in Island Health on March 31, 2025, against 246 days (2,157 people) a year earlier. Median 229 days. B.C.: 287 days, 7,029 people waiting.
Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series. The rule.
All notes on this number
Why it matters. Long waits keep seniors at home without enough care, or in hospital beds others need.
- From the Office of the Seniors Advocate’s yearly Monitoring Seniors Services data tables, which take the figures from each health authority. It is the average time people still on the waitlist on March 31 had been waiting, not the wait of people admitted.
- Island Health covers all of Vancouver Island; no Greater Victoria figure is published.
- The B.C. average is the Seniors Advocate’s weighted average of the health authorities.
Which places
Area: Vancouver Island (Island Health)
Island Health’s whole service area: Vancouver Island and surrounding communities, not only Greater Victoria.
Included
- Vancouver Island and surrounding communities, from Greater Victoria to the North Island, including all Island Health hospitals
Not included
- The Lower Mainland and the rest of B.C. (served by other health authorities)
Official definition
Shown for comparison
- Comparison area: All of B.C. The whole province of British Columbia.
How the agency describes it: Island Health (Vancouver Island and nearby islands).
How we got it
This number is published by the agency as shown; it is not calculated here. The script reads it from the agency’s own document and refuses to show it unless the expected text is found.
Licence and credits
This figure is public but not under an open licence: the agency publishes it for anyone to read, and it is shown here with credit and a link to the agency’s terms. About licences.
- Licence
- Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution. Agency’s terms of use
- Updated by agency
- Yearly (Seniors Advocate, Monitoring Seniors Services); latest release Mar 25, 2026
- Retrieved
- Nov 12, 2026, 10:30 PM B.C. time
Source: Office of the Seniors Advocate, Monitoring Seniors Services 2025, data tables. Public document, used with attribution; not endorsed by the publisher.
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