Thousands of long-term care workers at eligible sites are expected to return under the facilities bargaining association (FBA) agreement in the next two years.
The latest round of FBA collective bargaining included a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the FBA and Health Employers’ Association of BC (HEABC) on seniors care. This MOA outlines the government’s plan to bring long-term care (LTC) and assisted living (AL) operator-employers and their unionized employees into the public sector.
This is a significant win for health care and seniors care workers, who have been fighting to rejoin the common collective agreement for more than two decades.
Download the agreement to see details of the MOA:
What this means
This MOA is an important step toward restoring common labour standards and fair working and caring conditions in provincially funded seniors’ care homes - standards that existed before 2002.
For seniors and their families:
The provincial government is stabilizing ongoing staffing challenges, which are made worse with wage gaps and inconsistent benefits and working conditions.
Bringing more operators back into the public sector will rebuild fairness, strengthen public health care, and undo the damage caused by decades of privatization and the gutting of labour standards by the former BC Liberal government that started in 2009, when it allowed LTC and AL operators to leave HEABC.
For seniors care workers:
For workers at LTC and AL sites coming into the public sector, this policy change means that they will be covered by the public sector collective agreements (FBA, NBA or CBA).
This win belongs to all HEU members. It will strengthen public health care, lift up workers and improve care for seniors.
Not all seniors care workers will be included in this MOA. But HEU will continue fighting for the seniors’ care workers who are not covered by this change.
What to expect
The move back into the FBA for eligible worksites will happen in two phases, beginning in October 2026 and ending in September 2028:
In Phase One (October 2026 to September 2027), about 50% of eligible LTC and AL operators will be brought into HEABC.
In Phase Two (October 2027 to September 2028), the remaining eligible LTC and AL operators will transition to HEABC membership.
The government’s broad timeline for Phase One is as follows:
- Step 1 - End of July 2026: Ministry of Health will complete its assessment on which seniors care facilities will be affected by the MOA, and will inform operators in writing.
- Step 2 – Ministry of Health will engage with seniors care operators on transition plans.
- Step 3 – October 2026: By the beginning of the Phase One transition, the provincial government will make a regulatory change (Orders in council) to the Health Care Employers Regulation to add identified operators as HEABC member employers.
- Step 4 – HEU will connect with workers at affected sites with HEU staff representatives who will support members in this transition.
- Step 5 – HEU will work with eligible employers to implement the collective agreement(s) at each operator, including elements of the agreements that cover: seniority, service, benefits (and enrollment in the Joint Facilities Benefits Trust), vacation entitlements, sick and special leaves, Municipal Pension Plan, and schedules.
What sites are covered?
Eligible seniors’ care sites that will return are unionized LTC or AL operators that receive the majority of their funding through the health authority from the provincial government. Currently, these operators are not HEABC members, but they meet HEABC membership criteria and directly employ staff.
HEU will update members once a complete list of sites that meet these criteria is available.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I’m already covered by the FBA agreement, does this change anything for me?
No. If you are already covered by the FBA collective agreement, nothing in this Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) changes your rights, your seniority or your job security.
The HEU members who will be brought into the FBA, CBA or NBA through this agreement work at care homes that will become affiliate employers under the collective agreement. Just like all affiliate sites today, seniority is based within each employer.
What will change is the strength of the sector overall. Bringing more publicly funded seniors’ care workers into the FBA agreement means a more stable workforce, stronger standards across care homes and greater bargaining power for everyone. This is one of the reasons the FBA bargaining team pushed hard for this outcome during negotiations – they understood how important it is for rebuilding seniors’ care and strengthening the Facilities agreement for the long term.
This initiative helps stabilize seniors’ care, supports fair standards for all workers, and reinforces the power of the FBA to deliver improvements for its members.
Will all seniors’ care workers who are not in the FBA or other public sector collective agreement be covered?
Not all seniors’ care workers will be eligible to re-join the FBA or other public sector collective agreements (ie. CBA and NBA).
Eligible seniors’ care sites are unionized long-term care and assisted living operators employers that receive the majority of their funding through the health authority from the provincial government. Currently, these operators are not Health Employers Association of British Columbia (HEABC) member employers, but they meet HEABC membership criteria and directly employ unionized staff.
Subcontracted employers who provide care or support services at long-term care and assisted living facilities and employ HEU members are not eligible to be covered.
HEU is continuing to advocate for all seniors’ care workers who are not covered by this change to be included into the appropriate public sector agreement.
When will this change happen?
The Ministry of Health will implement the transition to HEABC membership in two phases over a two-year timeframe from October 2026 to September 30, 2027 (Phase One), and then October 1, 2027, to September 30, 2028 (Phase Two).
In Phase One, about half of the eligible LTC and AL operators will be brought into HEABC and the public sector. In Phase Two, the remaining eligible operators will be transitioned into HEABC.
What happens if my site is included?
If your site is determined by the Ministry of Health to meet the criteria to be an HEABC member employer, the provincial government will inform your employer in July 2026 and initiate a regulatory change (Orders in Council) and list the operator on the Health Care Employer Regulation, opening the door to HEABC membership. Once the Orders in Council are issued, work will begin to plan the transition
Following the transition your employment will be covered by the appropriate public sector health care collective agreement, such as the FBA, CBA or NBA agreement.
What will this mean for my benefits if my site is included?
Workers moving into a public sector collective agreement will gain access to that agreement’s benefits, including extended health, dental, long-term disability and other protections. How much your benefits will change depends on your current benefits plan. We fully expect public sector collective agreement benefits (including the FBA) to meet or exceed current plans.
Will I have access to a pension if my site is included?
Workers moving into the public sector collective agreements gain eligibility to access the Municipal Pension Plan, giving you a secure, predictable retirement plan.
What about my seniority? What will change?
Your seniority remains based with your current employer. You will stay in your current job and transition into the public sector agreement with your position and seniority.
After I become an FBA, CBA or NBA member, does seniority apply with other employers?
Each public sector health care agreement has portability provisions to cover how seniority and other benefits are ported upon rehiring with the same or another employer within the agreement.
Generally, portability applies upon reemployment and after attaining regular status.
For example, FBA members who leave one FBA employer and are rehired by the same or another FBA employer have 18 months to keep their benefits, seniority, and service banks, once they complete their probationary period, Members cannot use seniority rights at one FBA site to gain employment at another FBA site.
These provisions vary, please see FBACA Article 14.10 Portability; CBACA Article 11.4 Re-Employment and Portability; NBACA Article 51 Portability.
What if my site is not included in this change?
Some sites and employers will not be covered by this MOA. HEU will continue advocating to bring all seniors’ care workers into the Facilities collective agreement.
Who can I contact if I have questions?
Please be patient as we work with government and employers to implement this MOA. If you have questions, please contact members@heu.org. You can also contact your HEU shop steward or servicing representative for any additional support.
For more detailed information, please read the Ministry of Health’s Long-term Care and Assisted Living Operator Transition Q&A: transition Q&A