We’re creating opportunities for all British Columbians, including 100,000 jobs with new investments to build roads, schools and hospitals. And we’re making a college or university education more affordable with the new BC Access Grant.
Investing in a sustainable economy
Investing in a sustainable economy
New BC Access Grant
Up to $4,000 for post-secondary students
To remove barriers to the training and education needed for in-demand jobs, Budget 2020 takes the next step in making life more affordable for B.C. students. Building on the elimination of interest on B.C. student loans, starting this fall, more than 40,000 students at colleges and universities will receive immediate support with up-front costs of their education through the new BC Access Grant.
The needs-based grant complements the Canada Access Grant, ensuring low- and middle-income B.C. students receive up to $4,000 a year to help with the cost of programs that lead to a degree, diploma or certificate.
Infrastructure and job creation
Creating jobs while growing our province
Budget 2020 sees the largest investment in B.C. history in the infrastructure we need to keep moving forward — schools, hospitals, highways, and housing.
Our population is expected to rise by more than a million people in the next 15 years — and we’ll be ready.
Thousands of good jobs are being created as a result of the B.C. government’s infrastructure plan. These investments will also help meet the growing demands for services and infrastructure.
- Health: $6.4B to build and expand hospitals and health facilities, and for medical equipment.
- Transportation: $7.4B for priority projects including bridge replacements, highway expansions, and corridor improvements.
- Education: $2.8B to replace, renovate, or expand K-12 schools — many to include child care spaces and neighbourhood learning centres.
- Post-secondary education: $3.1B to expand our institutions, help meet workforce needs, and build student housing.
- Housing: More than $1B for more affordable housing for seniors, Indigenous peoples, individuals, and families.
Work underway on infrastructure projects is creating more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs across the province.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
A foundation for moving BC forward
Building true and lasting reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is foundational to moving B.C. forward.
British Columbia is the first province in Canada to pass legislation to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This recognizes Indigenous peoples as full partners in B.C.’s economy, offering a path forward for everyone living and doing business in British Columbia. Next steps are to work collaboratively on an action plan to implement the objectives of the UN Declaration and begin the work of aligning laws to the UN Declaration over time.
Government has started sharing gaming revenues, with each First Nations receiving between $250,000 and $2 million each year. Every First Nation will have the reliability of a long-term, stable funding source to invest in self-governance and the services and infrastructure their communities need, including child care, schools and housing.
Working with Indigenous people, B.C. is the first province to fund on-reserve housing. By working with First Nations and Métis groups, we are improving the child welfare system — focusing on prevention to help support families to stay together and keeping more kids out of care. We are also working on agreements with First Nations to transfer jurisdiction of child welfare to Indigenous communities.
Supporting BC’s forest sector
Assisting workers and developing new opportunities
A thriving forest sector has provided good, stable jobs for many families going back generations. Over the last several years, the mountain pine beetle infestation, wildfires and the softwood lumber dispute have reduced timber supply, triggering mill closures or uncertainty for forest companies and workers.
To create and support good jobs in the sector, we are promoting B.C. engineered wood products at home and abroad, using wood wherever possible for public infrastructure and championing the construction of encapsulated mass timber buildings. Budget 2020 takes another step forward with new funding to develop opportunities for B.C.’s bio-economy and revitalization within the forest sector.
Workers are also accessing job placement and skills training, equipment loans for coastal logging contractors, grants to help the hardest hit communities, and programs to support early retirement.
Climate action and CleanBC
Harnessing the power of a cleaner future
New investments in CleanBC, our government's plan to reduce pollution and build a cleaner future, are helping British Columbians transform how we get around, and where we live and work — making our schools, universities and hospitals more energy efficient. We're providing increased support to help industries move towards clean, low-carbon solutions.
Budget 2019 provided record level funding to implement the plan. Budget 2020 provides an additional investment of over $400 million to support CleanBC. This year’s budget continues the Climate Action Tax Credit for families and adds $20 million to the Province’s program to make purchasing an electric vehicle more affordable.