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BC Budget

Budget Highlights

Budget 2026 makes disciplined choices to protect what matters most.

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Safeguarding critical services

Budget 2026 protects critical services, such as health care and education, and makes new investments to support people who need care and assistance.

Supporting child care and K-12 education

  • Budget 2026 includes $634 million in new funding for teachers, student services, and to support inclusive learning as the number of inclusive learning students enrolled is on the rise.
    • A $167-million investment in the Classroom Enhancement Fund will result in more teachers for everyone, as well as special education teachers and teacher psychologists and counsellors.
  • Another $3.9 billion in capital funding is allocated for seismic replacements and upgrades as well as projects to address enrolment growth in B.C.’s fastest-growing communities.
  • Budget 2026 provides a $330-million lift to ChildCareBC to stabilize the programs and services that families rely on as government works to modernize B.C.’s child care system.
    • This stabilization is critical as provinces and territories continue negotiations with the federal government to drive flexibility and resilience across the system.
    • This funding will maintain lower fees, and the spaces and support for operators and educators achieved over the past eight years.
  • During this stabilization period, the Province will work to bring more equity into the system. After hearing from operators that current funding models limit their flexibility to support high-quality, inclusive care, the Province will pause enrolment of new providers into the Operating Funding Model and the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program during this stabilization period. Families and providers currently in the $10-a-day program will see no changes.
  • In fall 2025, the Province took steps to expand child care on school grounds, recognizing that schools are community hubs for families and could play a bigger role in offering child care.
  • As the Province continues onboarding the remaining funded New Spaces Fund projects (11,800 spaces), government intends to shift to expanding before- and after-school care.
  • Budget 2026 provides $25 million to be used to expand child care on school grounds:
    • $5 million in initial capital funding from the Ministry of Infrastructure
    • $20 million in operating funding over three years from the Ministry of Education and Child Care.

Strengthening health care services

  • Budget 2026 invests $2.8 billion in new funding for the health-care system over three years, including:
    • $2.3 billion to increase health system capacity and support a growing need for services, including supporting hiring more doctors, nurses and health-care workers and the planning, development and operation of new and expanded hospitals and health care facilities across the province
    • $131 million for intensive mental-health and addictions treatment, including increasing spaces for those who need involuntary care
    • $34 million annually to provide access to in-vitro fertilization for almost 1,800 B.C. families
  • As part of the Province’s work to secure outside funding, $447 million in federal contributions will help support health services for seniors, including outside of hospital treatment for complex medical conditions and improving the safety and quality of long-term care facilities.
  • Another $653 million in federal funding will expand public coverage to include free medications for diabetes and enhanced coverage for menopausal hormone therapy.

Help for children and youth with disabilities

  • Investment of $475 million will build a more flexible, streamlined and equitable system that is better aligned with the needs of children and youth.
  • Budget 2026 invests in three priority areas:
    • The new BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit will provide direct funding for approximately 12,000 families of children with significant disabilities who require higher and individualized support.
    • The new BC Children and Youth Disability Supplement will offer as much as $6,000 per year to ease financial pressures on low- and middle-income families raising a child with a disability.
    • All families will benefit from a 40% expansion in community-based services, including increased behavioural and mental-health supports.

Safer communities

  • The Province has been taking action on all fronts – enforcement, housing, health and justice – to stop the cycle of crime and get people the help they need to make B.C. communities stronger and safer for everyone.
  • Budget 2026 provides $139 million more over three years to reduce repeat, violent offending and chronic property crime, and support timely access to justice. This includes:
    • $73 million to continue to improve access to the justice system and support court operations, including sheriff recruitment and retention, Crown counsel, the judiciary, legal aid, and the BC Prosecution Service
    • $16 million for the new Chronic Property Offending Intervention Initiative that strengthens monitoring and enforcement for crimes such as vandalism and shoplifting that are hurting businesses
    • $26 million for the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative, for which, early evaluations show the program is resulting in significantly fewer police interactions and faster charge approvals for high-risk violent offenders
    • $24 million for the continuation of the Special Investigation and Targeted Enforcement program and the Community Safety and Targeted Enforcement program, both of which provide valuable resources to police to combat repeat violent offending and address street disorder, and to connect individuals to community services
  • The Province will continue to support the fight against extortion, including through the BC Extortion Task Force, which brings municipal, provincial, and federal agencies together on intelligence sharing and investigations. The Province has secured federal support for more police officers, increased RCMP helicopter resources, and national co-ordination of efforts to combat extortion.

Investing in B.C.’s future

Budget 2026 charts a path toward economic security by speeding up major projects, attracting federal and private investments, advancing innovation, and increasing access to trades training opportunities for British Columbians.

Creating more opportunities for skills training

Budget 2026 opens the door for more British Columbians to be trained for in-demand skilled trades, getting good, family-supporting jobs needed to help B.C. become Canada’s economic engine. A total of $283 million in funding includes:

  • $241 million to double skilled trades funding over three years
  • $12 million over three years to enhance the employer training grant, helping double apprenticeship seats by 2028-29
  • $30 million to train highly qualified professionals by adding specialized streams to existing programs, including engineering, geology, computer science, biology and aerospace

Attracting federal and private-sector investment

A new $400-million British Columbia Strategic Investments Special Account will enable B.C. to quickly take advantage of opportunities to work with the federal government as it invests billions of dollars to defend Canada’s sovereignty, creating jobs and economic opportunities. The special account will help the Province attract investments that leverage B.C.’s strength in sectors such as clean energy, sustainable forestry manufacturing, responsible mining and clean technology.

This special account will allow the Province to directly participate in the revenue growth of B.C. businesses through direct investments, equity and loans to support private-sector growth and good jobs for British Columbians.

Streamlining permitting, investing in natural resources

Budget 2026 invests more than $40 million over three years to remove barriers and avoid duplication in permitting across the natural resource and tourism sectors. This funding will build on efficiencies already created, which include:

  • almost 35% more exploration permits issued in 2025 than in 2024
  • reducing timelines for major mines applications by 35% since 2019
  • record-breaking investments of more than $750 million in mining exploration.

To help the forestry sector through sustained international tariffs, decreased fibre supply and higher labour costs, the Province is making immediate new investments to support sector stability, protect jobs and help communities adapt through $50 million in new provincial funding and reallocated federal funding for:

  • An immediate investment of $15 million to be released to key organizations in 2025-26:
    • $5 million for the First Nations Forestry Council to continue the Indigenous Forestry Scholarship program and support First Nations’ participation in the forest sector
    • $5 million for the Wildfire Reduction Equipment Support Trust to help logging contractors buy specialized equipment needed to recover fibre that can be processed into marketable products
    • $5 million for the Forestry Service Providers Compensation Fund to provide relief to contractors left unpaid for their services in the event of a tenure holder’s insolvency
  • The Province is also investing $15 million in 2025-26 to recapitalize the FireSmart Community Funding and Supports program, helping approximately 75 more local governments and First Nations strengthen wildfire resilience through training, equipment, bylaw updates and home-hardening measures.
  • B.C. is also allocating $20 million in federal funding to the Northern Development Initiative Trust in 2025-26 to help employers and workers in both the forestry and steel industries. This support builds on existing services offered through WorkBC to ensure workers have access to the employment assistance they need.

To provide immediate cash flow relief to tenure holders, the Province is introducing a temporary Stumpage Payment Deferral Program, effective from Jan. 1, 2026, until Nov. 30, 2026.

Supporting business investment

B.C. has made significant investments in supporting businesses and productivity. Budget 2026 includes a new, temporary 15% Manufacturing and Processing Investment Refundable Tax Credit for businesses investing in buildings, machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and processing. This measure will help businesses become more productive and competitive and help boost B.C.’s manufacturing sector.

Budget 2026 extends the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry Tax Credit until the end of 2027 to continue supporting B.C.’s maritime sector, which is the largest in Canada.

Government is announcing plans to work with industry and the federal government on examining the suitability of adopting a patent box regime in B.C. A patent box regime could provide a reduced tax rate on income made from intellectual property in B.C.

Updating the tax system while managing government expenses

Global economic uncertainty, slowing growth and high costs are putting pressure on public finances. Budget 2026 makes disciplined choices about constraining government spending and raising revenue to strengthen B.C.’s fiscal outlook, protect critical services, invest in industries and workers, and keep B.C. one of the lowest tax provinces for working families.

Updating B.C.’s tax system

Taxes make up the largest share of provincial revenue used to fund critical services in B.C. Government introduces changes to the tax system to protect core services from cuts through Budget 2026:

  • Increasing the tax rate of the first income tax bracket by less than 0.6 percentage points, from 5.06% to 5.60%.
  • This means an additional $76 in income taxes for the average taxpayer in 2026.
    • However, more than 40% of taxpayers will see savings when combined with the increase in B.C. tax reduction credit.
    • B.C. will also pause tax bracket indexing from 2027 until 2030.
  • Increasing the Speculation and Vacancy Tax rate for foreign owners and untaxed worldwide earners to 4% for the 2027 tax year, up from the current 3%.
  • B.C. is increasing the Additional School Tax rates from 0.2% to 0.3% for property values between $3 million and $4 million and from 0.4% to 0.6% for property values above $4 million, effective for the 2027 tax year.
  • Expanding B.C.’s PST tax base to include professional services such as accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, geoscientist and engineering services, commercial real estate fees and security and private investigation services.
    • This change generally aligns B.C. with how other provinces apply sales taxes to these services.
  • Removing PST exemptions for some goods and services that were once deemed essential but are not as commonly used anymore, such as clothing repair materials, services related to clothing and footwear, basic cable television and land-line telephone services.
    • Expanding the tax to these services is generally consistent with how tax applies to these services in most provinces.
  • Adding a new temporary 15% manufacturing and processing investment refundable tax credit for businesses investing in buildings, machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and processing.
  • Extending the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry Tax Credit until the end of 2027.
  • Changing the interest rate structure for the Property Tax Deferment Program from simple to compound and adopting a prime plus 2% rate for new loans.

Strategically sequencing the capital plan

  • Budget 2026 invests in the infrastructure people and communities need, including hospitals, schools and transit.
  • The fiscal plan includes nearly $38 billion in capital projects:
    • 17 major hospitals and acute-care facilities in communities including Vancouver, Surrey, Duncan, Kamloops and Williams Lake
    • important transit expansions, such as the Broadway Subway project and Surrey Langley Skytrain
    • 66 major K-12 school additions and improvements in communities including Mission, Prince Rupert and Langley
    • student housing projects that will add 3,900 new beds in post-secondary facilities in communities like Nanaimo and New Westminster
    • the first new medical school in Western Canada in nearly 60 years in Surrey
  • Right now, there are added fiscal pressures on government finances. To mitigate construction cost escalation and maintain a competitive debt-to-GDP, the Province is adjusting the pace of the capital plan to continue building the schools, hospitals, and transit people need in a sustainable way.
  • With B.C.’s aging population, government is taking action to deliver beds more efficiently through a review of the long-term infrastructure program to achieve cost efficiencies while maintaining safe, high-quality care for seniors.
  • Government is adjusting the timing of delivery for several approved long-term care projects to incorporate the lessons learned from projects already underway and from its ongoing review of the long-term care infrastructure program. The facilities affected include:
    • Abbotsford long-term care
    • Campbell River long-term care
    • Chilliwack long-term care
    • Cottonwoods long-term care replacement (Kelowna)
    • Delta long-term care
    • Fort St. John long-term care
    • Squamish (Hilltop) long-term care
  • Two additional projects being re-paced are:
    • Phase 2 of the Burnaby Hospital and Cancer Care, as government refreshes plans to ensure the project meets the needs of the community
    • University of Victoria student housing expansion
  • Government is adjusting the pace of some housing investments. This includes reallocating nearly $1.4 billion across the fiscal plan.

Making government more efficient

Government is continuing to increase efficiency and streamline programs to make sure service delivery is efficient, effective and affordable over the long term.

As part of its commitment to expenditure management targets announced at Budget 2025, government has reduced spending by $400 million for 2025-26 through staffing adjustments, hiring restrictions, and reducing discretionary spending by reviewing travel, consulting contracts, office and business expenses.

To continue that commitment to cost savings, Budget 2026 includes an estimated savings of $3.5 billion through expenditure management over the course of the fiscal plan. These will be achieved by continuing the measures taken in 2025-26, as well as through recalibrating program delivery and reviewing funding allocations.

In addition, government is introducing a commitment to reduce the size of the public sector by 15,000 full-time-equivalent positions (FTEs) over the three-year fiscal plan, while protecting front-line services and recognizing that some sectors, such as health and education, will continue to need to hire critical front-line positions. The public sector includes organizations outside of core government ministries, such as Crown corporations, school districts, post-secondary institutions and health authorities.

As part of the reductions in the public sector, government will be developing specific targets to reduce the number of executive positions, with a focus on Crown corporations and the health sector. The Province aims to reduce the size of BC Public Service, which is made up of employees working for core government ministries, by 2,500 FTEs by the end of the fiscal plan. These reductions will be achieved largely through attrition and voluntary departures. Additional measures, such as early retirement and voluntary severance incentives, may be used to help support the transition to a smaller, more efficient public service.