BC NDP Leader David Eby has promised a primary-care expansion anchored in Surrey that would bring more doctors and nurse practitioners to the province, open new clinics, extend same-day appointment hours, and fast-track internationally trained medical graduates into practice.
The plan, announced in Surrey on October 9, commits to more doctors and nurse practitioners and faster care for British Columbians, with new clinics, extended hours for same-day appointments, and expanded training, according to the BC NDP release. A centrepiece is fast-tracking international graduates, which the party says will get qualified doctors into family medicine sooner.
The promise lands in a city where the family-doctor shortage has been acute. Surrey is home to a large pool of internationally trained South Asian medical professionals, many of whom face long credential-recognition processes before they can practise in B.C. A faster pathway could put more of those doctors to work in the communities that need them most.
The NDP framed the announcement against what it calls an uncosted Conservative tax plan, claiming it would blow a $3-billion-a-year hole in the provincial budget, enough to hire 8,000 doctors. Those figures are the party’s own claims and have not been independently verified.
(Source: BC NDP media centre release, October 9, 2026)
