Cancer patients in British Columbia will no longer be referred to clinics in Bellingham, Wash., for care, Health Minister Josie Osborne announced Monday.

Osborne says the ministry's decision was not a result of the current U.S.-Canada trade war but due to declining participation in the program and shorter wait times for care in B.C.

"This has always been about delivering more cancer care for people closer to home," she said.

"The investments we've made in more oncologists, more radiation therapy, …