Minimum Nurse-to-Patient Ratios Focus of BC Nurses’ Conference

Today marks the start of the BC Nurses’ Union’s first-ever conference on minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, an event that brings together policy makers and guests from other provinces and countries to put a spotlight on the groundbreaking work happening in the province to implement ratios. 

The first phase of implementation in BC, which includes staffing ratios on medical and surgical, rehabilitation, palliative, intensive care and pediatric units is now nearly three-quarters complete.

“Leading voices in health care are here from across Canada and around the world to hear about the work we’re doing to address our nurse staffing crisis and make health care safer for patients,” says BCNU President Adriane Gear. “The stories our members share with us from units where ratios are activated paint a picture of success. At the same time, we know there are still too many care settings struggling to provide the care patients need – the top priority now needs to be bringing those benefits to the rest of our health-care system.”

Ratios are the result of a 2023 agreement between BC’s Ministry of Health and the Nurses’ Bargaining Association – the first of its kind in Canada. Nova Scotia and Manitoba have also begun introducing plans of their own. The latest development is the founding of the National Council for Nurse-Patient Ratios Implementation, which brings together employers, government representatives, academics and nurses’ unions to coordinate the adoption of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios across the country. 

“Minimum nurse-to-patient ratios are critical for providing the high-quality, life-saving care nurses were trained for. This is how we address the moral distress plaguing nurses who are working chronically over-capacity and start turning the tide on the nursing shortage,” says Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President and conference speaker Linda Silas. “Staffing decisions need to reflect the reality that nursing is a safety-critical profession. All across Canada, minimum nurse-to-patient ratios are the number one ask from nurses, and there’s a good reason for that: they work.” 

Conference speaker Dr. Karen Lasater is an associate professor of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and the co-author of a 2025 academic study examining acute care hospitals in BC that supports the case for continued implementation of ratios. Among the findings were that, in BC hospitals, adding one more patient to a nurse's assignment increases the risk of 30-day mortality by seven percent for all of the patients in their care.

"Research data from nurses in hospital and community settings across British Columbia underscore the need for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios,” says Lasater. “By implementing ratios, BC is on the right track towards improving health care in the province and retaining and attracting nurses."

To set up an interview, email BCNU Communications at media@bcnu.org.