A long-shuttered seniors’ care residence in West Vancouver could soon face redevelopment into a new long-term care home.
Vancouver Coastal Health issued a bulletin Tuesday, announcing that the health authority is seeking qualified contractors “to help explore opportunities for increased long-term care capacity” at the Capilano Care Centre, which closed in 2022.
The notice from VCH specifies that the site at 525 Clyde Ave. is anticipated to have “a minimum” of 210 long-term care beds.
Previously, the Capilano Care Centre was run by the private firm Revera. In 2021, the company deemed the aging 205-bed facility – first built in 1973 – to be too old, outdated and expensive to bring up to modern standards.
“The building is aging and its outdated design, including ward-style rooms, does not meet evolving resident expectations nor the modern standards required to support increasingly complex care,” a statement from the company read at the time. “Capilano is simply too old to attempt to renovate.”
Because of its lack of infection control during the pandemic, the Capilano Care Centre was the site of some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks on the North Shore, resulting in dozens of deaths of seniors.
Vancouver Coastal Health bought the property in 2023 for $34.5 million but has stayed largely silent on plans for the site.
The land is still zoned for a care home or hospital use. Exactly what might get built on the site isn’t known but District of West Vancouver planning staff have had preliminary meetings with VCH.
Under the Marine Drive local area plan, the site could be eligible for a floor area ratio (which measures the buildable square footage of a structure against the total size of the property) at 2.0. The guidelines restrict the height of buildings at the site from four to eight storeys.
Seniors’ care crisis coming, advocate warns
Vancouver Coastal Health’s announcement comes just days after B.C. seniors advocate Dan Levitt released a report finding that the province is headed for a crisis in long-term care as the population ages and demand spikes for limited beds.
Between 2016 and 2025, the number of people waiting to be admitted to long-term care rose from 2,381 to 7,212, an increase of 200 per cent, the report noted. Today, the average wait time for a long-term care bed is 290 days, up from 98 per cent from 2018.
The report starkly warns that today’s 2,000-bed shortfall is expected to grow by more than 700 per cent by 2035-36.
“We’ve known since the 1950s that B.C.’s seniors population would grow significantly. Now is the time to act with urgency to build the long-term care beds needed to meet government’s stated target by 2035/36,” said Levitt.
“A decade ago, we saw the warning signs of a critical shortage of family doctors and affordable housing and we failed to act. We now have a 10-year runway to avoid repeating that mistake and address the projected shortfall in long-term care. I want government to take decisive action today to get this right for seniors and their families,” he said.
The request for qualifications closes in late September, after which time VCH will narrow down a short list of six potential proponents to bid on the project.
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