Veteran mediator Vince Ready to step in to try to end the B.C. nurses dispute

Members of the BC Nurses' Union picket outside Surrey Memorial Hospital, in Surrey, B.C., Thursday, July 9, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Veteran mediator Vince Ready has been appointed to try to help settle the B.C. nurses’ dispute as the union steps up its job action.

Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside said in a statement on Friday that Ready and Amanda Rogers will act as special mediators to work with the parties for 10 days to help try to reach a settlement.

The statement says that if necessary, they will provide recommendations to the minister to end the dispute.

Ready has a long history in the province of troubleshooting some of the most fractious disputes.

Nurses announced on Thursday that they would step up their job action with an expansion of pickets to additional care centres across the province.

While many of the 60,000 unionized nurses are covered under essential-service agreements, those not on the job have been picketing in front of care centres in Surrey and Vancouver.

The union implemented targeted action last week with a ban on non-nursing duties and non-essential overtime.

Premier David Eby announced a mediator would be stepping into the dispute on Friday at an unrelated news conference in Prince George.

“I don’t want to prejudge any conversations that will take place at the table,” Eby said. “I know we have a shared goal of ensuring nurses are respected and appreciated in our system, and are able to return to work fully to support patients in British Columbia, and that will be our goal at the table.”

The labour dispute has drawn attention to nursing issues, such as working conditions and safety, among others, he said.

The premier said that while the government has taken steps to try to mitigate some of those pressures, such as nurse-to-patient ratios and security, there are still issues that need to be addressed.

“Nurses are the glue that hold an incredibly strained system together, and they deserve to be recognized for that,” he said.

No one from the BC Nurses’ Union was immediately available to comment on the appointment of the mediators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2026.