New BC Cancer centre coming to Kamloops is the largest-ever investment in cancer services in the area

Cancer impacts all of us. BC Cancer estimates that over 30,000 family members in B.C. will be diagnosed this year alone. It is one of the most challenging times for a family.

Approximately 50 per cent of cancer patients receive radiation therapy as part of their treatment plan. Radiation therapy can last between one and seven weeks and result in side effects that include fatigue and hair loss.

For too long cancer patients in the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap region have been travelling to Kelowna to access this life-saving treatment. That often means family members or loved ones taking time off work to drive more than two hours each way (and more in inclement conditions) to ensure their loved one gets the treatment they need. This is in addition to the other caregiving responsibilities they are likely taking on and the added stress on patients and family members.

That’s why the groundbreaking ceremony to announce EllisDon as the contractor that will build this new Cancer centre was such an exciting milestone for people in this region. Once open, the new centre is expected to provide radiation treatment for over 1,000 patients in its first year. It will also provide an additional MRI machine for cancer detection and diagnosis. The pharmacy will also be expanded along with the Community Oncology Network where patients currently receive chemotherapy.

The project is not without its challenges. The available site for the project is constrained and against a steep slope, resulting in space limitations for the building. The decision was therefore made to prioritize the available space for all the services that would be required to support life-saving radiation treatment, which left no room for a PET-CT scanner. Although difficult, this decision was also rooted in the needs of the community.

Providing radiation therapy and improving chemotherapy services are the highest priority for cancer patients in this region based on the latest available data. Estimates indicate patients living in and around Kamloops travel for radiation therapy about 16,500 times a year. Individual cancer patients will make the trips dozens and dozens of times for weeks on end during some of the most difficult and exhausting treatment regimens a person can bear. For context, the current number of trips required for PET-CT scans is about 900 per year, or about one day per week of PET-CT capacity, with most people requiring a scan just once.

All this being said, we know there is more work to do. The new BC Cancer centre is the largest ever cancer care investment in Kamloops. It is a generational investment that will benefit people in this region for years to come and it’s just one part of our government’s commitment to strengthen health-care infrastructure across the province.

~ By Bowinn Ma
Minister of Infrastructure
Thursday, July 31, 2025