The BC government has released an update on the Province’s economic standing and goals following the 2024 Fall Economic Statement.
According to the newly appointed Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, the Province is expecting modest economic growth in 2024 and 2025.
Although interest rates and high costs of living are impacting most British Columbians, job and population growth remain strong.
BC led the country in GDP growth in 2023 and is expecting further growth by 0.9% in 2024, followed by a further 1.9% in 2025 due to inflation and interest rates declining.
“BC is a great place to live, but high costs are taking too big a bite out of people’s paycheques,” said Bailey.
“We are going to keep supporting people with targeted investments – helping families with everyday costs, delivering more homes faster, strengthening health-care services and building an economy that works for everyone.”
One high point for the Province is that BC has one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in Canada, a metric that measures debt as a percentage of its GDP, indicating its ability to pay debts.
Additionally, BC is the only Canadian province with a triple-A rating from a credit-rating agency, according to the Ministry of Finance.
“As we work to expand our diverse economy, we know we’re facing increased uncertainty with the threat of unjust tariffs on goods going into the US,” Bailey said.
“We will continue to reinforce our message to our American trading partners about how integrated our fates are in terms of jobs, opportunities and economic prosperity on both sides of the border. These unjustified tariffs would benefit no one.”
Despite its low debt-to-GDP ratio, the Province anticipates its deficit to increase by $429 million, totalling $9.4 billion in 2024-25.
“We’ve started work on a plan to reduce the deficit over time, not by putting costs onto people, and not with service cuts,” Bailey said.
“We’ll do it by being careful with our budget and by growing our economy so we can pay for the services, for the infrastructure and the supports people need to get ahead and build a good life in BC.”
The Province says that revenue for 2024-25 is projected to be around $81.4 billion, which is $322 million lower than the BC’s first quarterly report. The Ministry of Finance says this is mostly due to lower corporate income taxes, sales taxes and federal government contributions.
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Expenses are projected to be approximately $90.9 billion, which is $107 million higher than the first quarterly report.
These increased expenses include $225 million in higher spending for initiatives such as new First Nation revenue-sharing agreements for natural gas royalties revenue and higher spending from service delivery agencies, primarily by health authorities.
The Province noted that the higher spending is partly offset by lower than expected costs for wildfires in the amount of $118 million.
Total wildfire spending for the year is projected at $768 million.
This figure is significantly lower than the cost of the 2023-24 wildfire, which totalled $1.1 billion—the highest year on record and $401 million more than was budgeted.
For more on the 2024-25 economic update, click here.
