2024-2025 Annual Report

Our Leadership

Meghan Friesen

Interim Executive Councilor
Jim Gould

Chief Executive Officer
Adriane Gear

President
Tristan Newby

Vice President
Sharon Sponton

Treasurer
Denise Waurynchuk

Interim Executive Councillor

Regional Leaders

BCNU activists take bold action to advance members’ interests in their workplaces and communities. Their commitment to their work inspires unity in their co-workers, building strength across the union to improve our health-care system and advance nurses’ professional voice. We asked BCNU regional council members to tell us about the bold, committed and united actions members in their region took over the past year.

Gerald Dyer

Central Vancouver

Kristina Hernandez

Central Vancouver

Angela Crawford

Coastal Mountain

Denise Nelson

East Kootenay

Parveen Gill

Fraser Valley

Danette Thomsen

North East

Teri Forster

North West

Candi DeSousa

Okanagan Similkameen

Deidre Knudson

Pacific Rim

Sara Mattu

Richmond Vancouver

Claudette Jut

Shaughnessy Heights

Wendy Gibbs

Simon Fraser

Roy Hansen

Simon Fraser

Glesy Banton-Victoria

South Fraser Valley

Peggy Holton

South Fraser Valley

Caitlin Jarvis

South Islands

Leanne Roberston-Weeds

South Islands

Scott Duvall

Thompson North Okanagan

Frances Beswick

Vancouver Metro

Shalane Wesnoski

West Kootenay

Our Members

By Designation

RN/RPN		40,428
LPN		10,365
Allied		1,902

By Sector

Acute Care		36,587
Community Care		9,965
Long-Term Care		5,675
Other		469

By Seniority

< 5 years		23,408
5-10 years		10,513
11-15 years		6,729
16-20 years		5,981
21-25 years		2,951
> 25 years		3,114

Please note: The membership numbers published in the distributed print version of this annual report are incorrect.

Reports

BCNU MEMBERS ARE BOLD

BCNU MEMBERS ARE COMMITTED

BCNU MEMBERS ARE UNITED

Leadership Awards

The Excellence in Leadership and Advocacy Award honours a member who has made a difference to the health and well-being of their community and their profession through leadership, activism or social justice efforts.

The NU Leader Award honours a student member or member with less than five years of nursing experience who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in BCNU-focused advocacy and activism and embodies union values.

Each winner receives beautiful, personalized, original artwork and a monetary prize of $1,000.

Juanita Little

Excellence in Leadership & Advocacy Award

Juanita is a registered nurse in BCNU’s Thompson North Okanagan region. Since graduating in 1996, she has worked in multiple hospital settings, including emergency, med-surg, palliative care and labour and delivery.

Currently, she is the community integration care coordinator for home and community care at Ashcroft and District General Hospital.

Several colleagues nominated Juanita for this award. Among her supporters is co-worker Sonja Sullivan. “I’ve grown to respect Juanita’s integrity, leadership, clinical expertise, critical thinking and knowledge,” says Sullivan. “She’s an outstanding advocate for rural residents who fights to ensure clients receive equitable health services and our team receives equitable service-delivery support.”

Another of Little’s nominators, Interior Health manager of clinical operations for home health and home support Bethany Ryan, offers another example of why she believes Little deserves the award: “Juanita’s energetic petitioning for increased full-time employees helped our team secure a new Licenced Practical Nurse position to help provide rural and remote home health services to Lytton as it rebuilds from 2021’s devastating fires.”

Juanita is known for her critical thinking ability, broad perspective on rural health care and strong sense of social justice. She builds team strength through dedicating time to listen to her colleagues.

Laura Starck

NU Leader Award

Laura is a registered nurse at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). She began her nursing career in Northern British Columbia, working in acute care before spending time at BC Cancer. She is also a clinical instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

BCNU Central Vancouver regional council member Gerald Dyer says he was thrilled to endorse Starck, who has filled various roles on her region’s executive team, including treasurer, lobby coordinator and steward at large.

“Laura has not only embraced her steward responsibilities but has exhibited a genuine passion for union advocacy and activism,” Dyer says. “One of her standout achievements was her pivotal role spearheading the ER campaign at VGH – shedding light on pressing issues nurses face in emergency departments across BC. By rallying campaign champions and activists, Laura has amplified nurses’ voices and strengthened the bond between the union, its members and the community at large.”

By the Numbers

Cultivating Leaders

BCNU members show leadership in their union through daily advocacy for their patients, activism in speaking up for their colleagues and engagement in their union.

1431

Regional bargaining conference participants

542

Provincial bargaining conference participants

531

Convention participants

Investing in Members

BCNU prioritizes increasing member activism and engagement through providing financial resources members need to fully participate in their union.

20393

Salary replacement days

816

Member Education Bursaries provided

$3.8M

in LPN to RN/RPN Laddering Funds paid

29775

Bill/expense forms processed

Investing in Students

BCNU's future leaders can be found in universities and colleges across the province. That's why the union invests in students' some of the strongest advocates for nursing are just getting started.

75%

Increase in student member registration

2157

Employed student nurses

BC participants at Canadian Nursing Students' Association 2024 National Conference

Education

BCNU is a learning organization committed to the growth and development of all our members. Our education programs offer members the chance to grow personally and professionally, and help them gain a better understanding of their union, their workplace and the health-care system.

28%

more learners accessed the BCNU Learning Centre in 2024-25

Building Union Strength workshops held

135

digital and print resources in Steward Toolkit

78%

of available course seats filled

Labour Relations

BCNU is focused on protecting and advancing the health and economic well-being of our members. We've committed significant resources to defending members' rights when dealing with health employers and WorkSafeBC.

3163

Grievances opened

2660

Grievances closed

66%

Success rate on WorkSafeBC appeals

88%

Success rate on members' LTD appeals

1950

OHS queries sent to the safety and health email

339

Submissions to the North American Occupational Safety and Health Week contest

1487

Breaking Down the Barriers letter signatures

Strategic Directions

OUR 2025 STRATEGIC PLAN reflects, integrates and affirms BCNU’s abiding commitment to the principles of truth and reconciliation, cultural safety and Indigenous-specific anti-racism. This commitment is informed by our values of diversity, equity and inclusion – towards strengthening a sense of belonging for all union members.

Improve technology and digital platforms to make it easy for members to access the information they need, when they need it.
- Redesign and implement a new website, member portal, mobile app and member case management system.
- Explore and implement advanced technologies and digital tools to support organizational productivity.
- Improve communication to activists and regional teams.
Cultivate member solidarity by expanding knowledge on the principles of unionism and the power of collective action.
- Offer resources to mobilize members on issues that align with the union’s values and strategic directions.
- Implement a recruitment and retention strategy to activate and support stewards.
- Empower members to utilize the organizing model.
Foster leadership development and effective decision-making that is consistent with our strategic directions, vision, mission and values.
- Model our values and build trust through effective response and clear communications.
- Develop an evidence-based and inclusive decision-making framework, grounded in our principles and values, to inform and facilitate decision-making across the organization.
- Develop a competency-based framework, integrating our values and principles of truth and reconciliation and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), to foster leadership development and succession of elected and appointed members.
- Reimagine the future of our union through inclusive consultation processes.
As the professional voice of nursing, continue to advocate for quality practice in health care including the successful implementation of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
- Engage employers and government on the opportunities to address the nursing shortage through focused retention and recruitment.
- Educate the public on the value of nurses to the public health-care system and the benefits of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.
- Build relationships with nursing and labour organizations.
- Increase outreach with schools of nursing and nursing students.
- Validate the benefit of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios on patient safety, outcomes and nurse retention.
- Advance professional practice and explore other initiatives to address workload.
- Continue to support and advocate for new grads and internationally educated nurses.
Achieve gains to negotiated agreements and protect members’ rights to safe, healthy and respectful workplaces.
- Hold employers accountable for their collective agreement obligations, inclusive of Indigenous-specific anti-racism and DEI.
- Hold employers accountable for their obligations to provide safe and supportive workplaces for members.
- Strengthen member engagement in establishing bargaining priorities.
- Bargain gains to collective agreements inclusive of Indigenous-specific anti-racism and DEI initiatives.
- Address Indigenous-specific racism in health care and support cultural safety.
- Provide members with resources and support to uphold their rights and responsibilities to physical and psychological health and safety in the workplace.

BCNU is committed to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples - a commitment that is necessary and reflective of our values.

Click here to learn about BCNU’s commitments to truth and reconciliation.

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