{"id":591133,"date":"2026-04-08T22:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/591133\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T22:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:09:11","slug":"canadian-province-gave-out-taxpayer-funded-coffee-that-cost-165-a-cup-to-try-and-lure-us-healthcare-workers-across-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/591133\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian province gave out taxpayer-funded coffee that cost $165 a CUP to try and lure US healthcare workers across border"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Canadian province spent thousands of dollars on a coffee truck promotion to recruit American healthcare workers, a taxpayer watchdog revealed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The government of British Columbia sponsored the coffee delivery stunt, which lasted approximately two days in June 2025.<\/p>\n

It involved a branded pink-and-purple truck driving across Seattle to hand out 1,000 cups of coffee and napkins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The paper cups said, ‘Fill your cup. Follow your heart to BC,’ and included a link to the government’s healthcare careers website.<\/p>\n

‘We sent coffee and tea to health care workers in Seattle so we could share the many benefits of working in our beautiful province,’ BC Premier David Eby wrote in a post on X<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n

‘It’s a win-win situation \u2013 when more talented professionals join our health care system, patients benefit from compassionate, evidence-based care.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0the Canadian Taxpayers Federation<\/a>\u00a0(CTF) revealed the province’s government\u00a0spent on $165,000 CAD ($119,134 USD) the promotion.<\/p>\n

That breaks down to each coffee costing approximately $165 CAD ($119 USD) per cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The government of British Columbia spent thousands of dollars on a coffee truck promotion to recruit American healthcare workers<\/p>\n

\"Premier <\/p>\n

Premier David Eby called it a ‘win-win situation’ and said the stunt was done to ‘share the many benefits of working in our beautiful province’<\/p>\n

Taxpayer money was spent on the brand truck, 1,000 cups of coffee, 1,000 branded cups and napkins, and location procurement and staffing, according to an invoice obtained by the group.<\/p>\n

‘Eby dreamed up the most expensive way imaginable to hand out free coffee,’ CTF Director Carson Binda said in a statement.<\/p>\n

‘The provincial government is drowning in debt and borrowing billions while the government wastes money on America’s most expensive cup of coffee.<\/p>\n

‘It\u2019s hard to imagine how the BC government could have spent that much money on coffee. Even if you pick the most luxurious options, you could still save money.’<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen if the promotion was worth the taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n

During the promotion, the Government of British Columbia wrote on Facebook that it was looking to recruit American healthcare workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘A BC health-careers coffee truck made stops near hospitals and clinics in Seattle to connect directly with doctors, nurses and allied health professionals,’ the government wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Our goal? To invite more US health-care workers to explore life and work in British Columbia in areas they’re needed most, like in cancer care, emergency departments, and rural communities. And our recruiters will support them every step of the way.’<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The province spent on $165,000 CAD ($119,134 USD) the promotion. That breaks down to each coffee costing approximately $165 CAD ($119 USD) per cup<\/p>\n

\"Taxpayer <\/p>\n

Taxpayer money was spent on the brand truck, 1,000 cups of coffee, 1,000 branded cups and napkins, location procurement and staffing<\/p>\n

In March, the government of British Columbia announced that over 400 US healthcare professionals had moved to the province in the past year.<\/p>\n

‘As of January 2026, more than 400 US doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and allied health professionals have accepted job offers within BC’s public health-care system,’ the press release said.<\/p>\n

‘They include 89 doctors, 260 nurses, 42 nurse practitioners and 23 allied health professionals.’<\/p>\n

The Daily Mail contacted Eby’s office, BC’s Health Ministry and the Jobs and Economic Growth Ministry for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Canadian province spent thousands of dollars on a coffee truck promotion to recruit American healthcare workers, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,2093,84,392,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-591133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}