This isn’t just a hospital upgrade. It’s a generational investment in the Cariboo.
In Williams Lake, one of the most significant investments in the region’s future is underway, one that is driving economic growth, creating career opportunities, and strengthening communities across the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
The redevelopment of Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) is more than a health-care project. It’s a $366 million investment in the long-term resilience of the region, designed to meet today’s needs while building capacity for generations to come.
The project includes a new three-storey addition and major renovations that will expand care across the board. Improvements include more beds, a larger emergency department, enhanced maternity services, improved oncology and ambulatory care, and a dedicated mental health and substance use unit with private spaces designed for dignity and healing.
It’s a level of infrastructure that supports not just patients, but the broader system that surrounds them, including families, workers, and communities across a vast and diverse region.
Built with Community
What sets this project apart is how it has been shaped.
From the beginning, the redevelopment has been grounded in collaboration, with local governments, health-care staff, and Indigenous communities across the region working together. Engagement with Secwépemc, Tsilhqot’in and Dãkelh Dené partners has helped ensure the hospital reflects not only clinical needs, but also cultural values and lived experience.
The design includes spaces for ceremony, reflection, and Indigenous healing practices. Smudging is supported within patient areas. Cultural safety has been considered not as an add-on, but as a core part of how care is delivered.
This is health care that recognizes where it is and who it serves. That matters.
Care That Reflects Real Life and Real Opportunity
The new hospital is being built for the way this region actually lives and for the people who want to build a life and career here.
It recognizes the realities of distance, rural access, and the need for services that are both comprehensive and close to home. Expanded emergency care will improve response times and capacity. The new maternity unit will support families through one of life’s most important moments while allowing them to stay closer to their own communities. Dedicated mental health and substance use spaces reflect a growing understanding of the full spectrum of care needed across the region.
For health-care professionals, this project represents real opportunity.
Doctors, nurses, and technicians are stepping into a modern, well-equipped environment designed with their input. These are spaces that support quality care, strong teams, and a connected way of working. It is an investment not only in infrastructure, but also in the people delivering care.
The opportunities extend well beyond clinical roles.
The CMH redevelopment is creating careers in skilled trades, construction, and project management today while supporting long-term roles in operations, maintenance, food services, administration, and hospitality. From electricians and carpenters to chefs and support staff, it takes a wide range of people to bring a hospital like this to life and keep it running.
This kind of investment builds more than infrastructure. It builds careers.
Growth That Stays
Projects like this drive economic growth in real and tangible ways.
They support local contractors, suppliers, and businesses. They create pathways for people to develop skills and build experience close to home. They also strengthen the kind of workforce that stays in the region, contributing to the economy long after construction is complete.
This is how capacity is built.
Not just through buildings, but through people, opportunity, and the ability to see a future here.
A Place to Build a Life
If you’re thinking about making a move, access to health care is often part of the decision. Opportunity matters too.
In the Cariboo, you’ll find both.
You can build a meaningful career, whether that is in health care, trades, hospitality, or the many roles that support a growing community, and know that essential services are close to home.
It means being supported through life’s big moments and the unexpected ones too. It means fewer long trips for care and more time spent where it matters most, at home, in your community, with your people.
That kind of stability changes how a place feels.
It makes the decision to move easier. It also makes building a life here feel not just possible, but worthwhile.
When services grow, communities grow with them.
Building Forward
The CMH redevelopment project is still in progress, with more phases ahead. Its impact, however, is already clear.
It is creating jobs and strengthening the regional economy.
It is opening doors to new careers and opportunities.
It is reflecting the cultures and communities it serves.
And it is improving care for people across the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
It is setting the foundation for what comes next.
Growth in the Cariboo is thoughtful. It is grounded. It is built to last. And it is being built here.
