B.C. budget includes tax increases, 15K public job cuts, projected $13B deficit
The B.C. government’s 2026 budget introduces tax increases, delays to major capital projects, and plans to cut 15,000 public sector jobs over three years, while still projecting large deficits for the foreseeable future. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said the measures respond to economic pressures such as U.S. tariffs and a cooling housing market, with a $13.3 billion deficit forecast for 2026–27 and total provincial debt expected to rise from $154 billion to $235 billion over three years. The budget raises income, property and sales taxes, freezes new $10-a-day childcare spaces and slows hospital and housing projects. “This budget is different from our past budgets, because this moment is different,” Bailey said.
