Vancouver Community College (VCC) has suspended it intake for its Bachelor of Science in Nursing program for one year, meaning no new students will be admitted until 2027.

VCC says the decision was a financial one.

“The College is adjusting program sizes in response to the financial implications of reduced international students and cost of programming,” Charnelle McClure, VCC’s executive director of marketing and communications, told CityNews.

Adriane Gear, president of the BC Nurses’ Union, calls the college’s decision to suspend the first year of the nursing program “very short-sighted.”

“I understand that VCC is making this decision because they have funding shortfalls. I appreciate that,” Gear said.

“However, in the context of health care and the fact that we have 4,500 permanent vacancies — meaning full FTE positions that have been posted internally in health authorities and then have gone out externally and nobody has filled them — we have tremendous need in this province for nurses.”

According to government projections, she says, the province is going to need 33,000 new nurses by 2035 to keep up with demands on the system.

“And you have one of your major post-secondary institutions that provide Registered Nurses their education…it just doesn’t make any sense.”

Gear says B.C.’s nurses have entered into a first-of-kind agreement with the government to have a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio.

“That alone will require many, many more nurses, and what that does is it provides a basic safety standard for patients so that one nurse can only care for a maximum of a certain number of patients,” she said.

“And yet, where are these nurses coming from?”

VCC says the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program will continue as planned for students in years two and three. As well, it says, it has added a spring 2026 intake to its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (advanced entry) program, which is a pathway for Licensed Practical Nurses to train as Registered Nurses.

“This was a budgetary consideration that also aligns with strong applicant demand,” McClure said.

“This change reflects a strategic decision to adjust admissions to certain programs, rather than close them, preserving the ability to expand again when possible.”