BC NDP and Conservatives court Surrey with rival promises on hospitals, SkyTrain and Massey crossing

Surrey is shaping up as a key battleground as British Columbians prepare to vote in the provincial election on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. The BC NDP and the Conservative Party of B.C. have each made a series of commitments aimed at the city, Daily Hive Vancouver reported. The promises touch on hospitals, transit, the George Massey crossing, public safety and how Surrey is governed.

Why Surrey matters

Ten of B.C.'s 93 provincial ridings carry Surrey in their names. In the October 2024 election, the Conservatives took six of those and the BC NDP took four. Six of the 10 were settled by fewer than 1,000 votes.

The tightest contest was in Surrey-Guildford, where the BC NDP's Garry Begg prevailed by just 22 votes. That win helped his party reach 47 seats, the number required for a majority in the 93-seat legislature. Four years earlier, the BC NDP had won seven of nine Surrey-area seats, including Surrey-Cloverdale, as John Horgan secured a majority government.

Daily Hive reported that 81,810 voters had cast advance ballots across the 10 ridings. Surrey-White Rock recorded the largest number in the group, at 13,557.

Health care

A new hospital and cancer centre is being built in Cloverdale. It carries a $2.9-billion price tag and is scheduled for completion in 2030. Both parties have made further health-care promises on top of that project.

Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson says he would make Surrey's third hospital a women's and children's facility. The party's platform sets aside an estimated $25 million over a first term to choose a site, develop a concept and carry out planning and financial assessment. It makes no commitment that the hospital would be open within that term.

Mayor-elect Doug McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition supermajority have pledged to reserve City-owned land on King George Boulevard in Newton for a provincial hospital project.

BC NDP Leader David Eby has said his party would work with the City on a different, unspecified health-care facility, provided the City supplies the land. The party did not call it a full-service hospital. It also promised three more urgent and primary care centres in Surrey and additional upgrades at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

Separately, a new SFU medical school building is planned for Surrey City Centre. It is expected to cost $520 million, with construction beginning in late 2026 and finishing in 2030.

Transit

The Conservatives say they would work with the federal government to fund and build an Expo Line SkyTrain extension running along King George Boulevard from Surrey City Centre to Newton Town Centre. On the same day, the BC NDP announced that it backs a SkyTrain extension to Newton.

McCallum, who spoke at a Conservative campaign rally in Surrey on Thursday and endorsed the party, said the BC NDP had gone no further than saying it was willing to talk about the project. He said he favoured the explicit commitment from the Conservatives.

The BC NDP had previously promised $250 million in provincial money toward TransLink's proposed $700-million bus rapid transit line on King George Boulevard. Its newer platform says that funding could be redirected to a Newton SkyTrain extension.

The Massey crossing

The two parties are furthest apart on how to replace the George Massey Tunnel. The Conservatives would revive a 10-lane bridge concept created under the previous BC Liberal-led government, rather than proceed with the BC NDP's eight-lane immersed tunnel.

Their platform proposes redirecting the estimated $8.5 billion allocated to the tunnel project. The party would also ask Ottawa to shift its announced contribution of up to $3 billion to the bridge. That transfer would still need approval from Prime Minister Mark Carney's administration.

The Conservatives assert that a bridge could be delivered faster, for less money and with lower risk than a tunnel. Eby has asserted the opposite: that the Conservative plan would add delays and costs to getting a replacement crossing built.

Meanwhile, the tunnel project is moving. Early works and site preparation are well underway, and major construction is expected sometime in 2027. The provincial environmental assessment must be completed before that can start, and it is now expected to wrap up by late 2026.

This past summer, the province dismissed the European private consortium it had chosen in 2024 for the tunnel, at least partly because of cost. It has since reopened bidding under a new procurement model that divides the work into five smaller contracts.

When the BC NDP decided in 2021 to go ahead with planning an eight-lane immersed tunnel, the project was priced at $4.15 billion. That figure left out the highway, bus infrastructure and interchange improvements that were part of the earlier bridge project, so it is not a like-for-like comparison with that plan.

City powers, schools and safety

Eby has promised provincial legislation that would give Surrey its own municipal charter, comparable to the Vancouver Charter.

The BC NDP also said it would work with the Iqra Education Society and the City of Surrey to help set up a new Muslim high school. It later clarified that it would stop short of providing public funding.

McCallum said the Conservatives had committed to provincial support for rebuilding horse racing facilities at Fraser Downs. Last year, the City of Surrey ended the lease for horse racing there and later tore down the facilities.

On public safety, the Conservatives are pledging to hire 1,000 more police officers, prosecutors and support staff across the province. The BC NDP's policies include 50 additional Crown prosecutors and a unit focused on extortion and gang violence.

What to know

• Voting day is Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026.
• Daily Hive reported 81,810 advance ballots across Surrey's 10 ridings.
• The Conservatives' Newton SkyTrain pledge involves working with the federal government, and their plan to move federal money to a Massey bridge would need Ottawa's approval.
• The Conservatives' $25 million for the third hospital covers planning work only, not construction.