The investments made to date in services like health care, child care and housing have supported people through the pandemic and recent climate-related disasters. Budget 2022 builds on this strength by continuing to invest in the quality, accessibility and responsiveness of the services people rely on.

Affordable, accessible, quality child care

Since launching the ChildCareBC plan in Budget 2018, government has invested more than $2.4 billion to build an affordable, accessible, high-quality child care system to ensure that people, especially women, can participate in the workforce. After signing a historic agreement with the federal government in 2021 to accelerate the development of this system, Budget 2022 makes further investments for:

• More spaces:
  • Since the launch of the 10-year ChildCareBC Plan in 2018, government has funded more than 26,000 new licensed child care spaces – the fastest space creation in B.C.’s history.
  • Through the new shared agreement with the federal government, delivering 30,000 new spaces for children under the age of six within five years, and 40,000 within seven years.
  • Creating more before- and after-school spaces, including nearly doubling the Seamless Day program from 24 to 44 school districts, and expanding the Just B4 program to 14 more school districts.
• Lower fees:
  • Budget 2022 brings B.C. closer than ever to government’s planned $10-a-day child care.
  • Through a new agreement with the federal government, fees for full-day infant and toddler care will be reduced by 50% to an average of approximately $20 a day by the end of 2022.
  • Budget 2022 builds on that investment by cutting average fees for preschool and before- and after-school care to less than $20 a day for the 2023-24 school year.
• Quality care:
  • Expanding the wage enhancement program to early childhood educators (ECEs) who spend less than 50% of their time in direct child care functions but are still working within child care services.
  • Adding new licensing officers to accelerate the process of certifying child care facilities.
  • Expanding the dual credit program to 150 more students and creating 130 more ECE training seats annually in post-secondary institutions.
• Indigenous child care:
  • Supporting the Aboriginal Head Start program, which provides culturally based inclusive child care, early learning and family bonding opportunities for Indigenous children.
  • Investing in consultation, planning and capacity building for Indigenous rights holders.

Strengthening health and mental health services

Improving the quality of physical and mental health-care services and keeping British Columbians safe from the COVID-19 pandemic remains the Province’s highest priority. Budget 2022 invests $3.2 billion in additional funding over the fiscal plan to improve the health-care services people rely on, including by:

• Advancing the Primary Care Strategy by adding new urgent and primary care centres and working in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority to continue creating up to 15 First Nations primary care centres throughout the province.
• Continuing a strategy to reduce wait lists for surgeries and diagnostic imaging with $303 million in new base budget funding over the next three years.
• Reducing emergency call wait and response times by adding more paramedics and dispatchers, with $148 million over the fiscal plan for the BC Emergency Health Services Action Plan.
• Improving wages, working conditions, job security and stability for thousands of support service workers, the majority of whom are racialized women, while improving outcomes for patients by bringing these workers back to the public sector after 20 years of contracting this work through private companies.
• Continuing to support actions of the Pathway to Hope plan to expand mental health and addictions care, supported with significant Budget 2021 investments that bring increased annual expenditures since 2017 to over $375 million annually.

Budget 2022 also invests an additional $875 million for 2022-23 from Pandemic Recovery Contingencies, for:

• Ongoing COVID-19 and influenza vaccination programs.
• PPE for health-care workers.
• Enhanced measures to limit the risk of COVID-19 for vulnerable residents in long-term care and assisted living facilities.
• Increased mental health supports for Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
• Funding for the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

Responding to and preventing homelessness

People will benefit from a new, cross-government approach to both prevent homelessness and respond quickly to assist people experiencing homelessness to become stably housed. Budget 2022 invests $633 million over the fiscal plan to expand services and shift the approach to homelessness in the province from reactive to proactive, by:

• Providing $35 million over the next three years to respond to the heightened risk of homelessness faced by former youth in care, through improved supports for these youth beyond their 19th birthday.
  • Beginning in 2022-23, temporary housing and support arrangements that had been provided in 2020 will be made permanent, and new $600-a-month rent supplements will be introduced for program participants.
  • Over the course of 2023-24 and 2024-25, the Agreement with Young Adults program will be expanded to include counselling, medical benefits and more life-skills programming. Income supports will also be improved, including an earnings exemption so youth don’t have to decide between working and receiving benefits.
• Introducing $600-a-month rent supplements for more than 3,000 people over the next three years to help them become stably housed, with integrated wraparound supports.
• Doubling the current number of community integration specialists to help people experiencing homelessness navigate government programs and available supports in communities throughout the province.
• Expanding the first-of-its-kind Complex Care housing model to at least 20 more sites throughout B.C. through an investment of $164 million over three years, with plans to support up to 500 people with severe mental health, substance-use issues, or traumatic and acquired brain injuries who are currently homeless or unstably housed.
• Ensuring housing support continues for the up to 3,000 people who were temporarily housed in leased or purchased hotel and other spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic, as more transition to permanent housing, with an investment of $264 million over three years. This includes funding to acquire and operate permanent housing for a portion of those now temporarily housed, as well as $150 million in pandemic and recovery contingencies to extend some temporary spaces where needed, while permanent housing options become available.

Beginning the transition to improved services for families of children with support needs

Budget 2022 starts the transition to more accessible and inclusive services for children and youth with support needs with an investment of $172 million over three years. This includes establishing family connections centres throughout the province. Of this amount, Budget 2022 invests $114 million to begin the transition to a needs-based system, with early implementation to begin in two regions. Findings from these pilots will inform the development and implementation of the provincewide system to be in place by 2025.

This funding envelope also responds to the increasing number of children and youth accessing support, with an increase of $58 million over the fiscal plan period.

Support for sexual assault survivors

Budget 2022 invests to support survivors of sexual assault by providing core funding to approximately 50 community-based sexual assault response organizations, undoing cuts that were made to these services in 2002. These organizations will receive dedicated, ongoing funding to provide critical crisis response, counselling, preventative medication, forensic exams, mechanisms to report to the police, and child protection services.

Safe, welcoming K-12 schools

Budget 2022 responds to growing K-12 enrolment with more than $664 million in additional funding over the fiscal plan, bringing the total annual funding for K-12 education to more than $7.3 billion by 2024-25. This investment will:

• Increase funding for enrolment growth in school districts, continuing to provide allocations for children and youth in care, Indigenous learners, rural school districts and students with support needs.
• Continue to support nearly 4,500 teachers, including more than 700 special education teachers and more than 200 teacher psychologists and counsellors through the Classroom Enhancement Fund.

Budget 2022 also includes more than $3.1 billion in capital funding over the next three years to build, maintain and seismically upgrade schools throughout the province.

Improved accessibility

Budget 2022 provides $3 million in new funding over three years to continue the implementation of the Accessible British Columbia Act and develop an accessibility plan for persons with disabilities, develop regulations to increase accessibility and establish a provincial accessibility committee.

Inclusion and anti-racism

The government is working in partnership with communities around the province to draft anti-racism data legislation to be introduced in spring 2022. This legislation will help government to provide better and more equitable services by enabling the consistent collection, use and disclosure of demographic data, and help identify gaps in services to Indigenous and racialized communities.

Government is also working to draft B.C.’s first anti-racism act in consultation with Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities to make B.C. a safer, more inclusive and equitable province for everyone, regardless of race, skin colour or faith.

This builds on efforts underway in the province to combat racism, including modernizing the Police Act, developing a K-12 anti-racism action plan and tackling anti-Indigenous racism in health care. Funding continues to support a provincewide anti-racism awareness campaign, a provincial anti-racism network, Resilience BC, as well as more than 190 community organizations that are working to address racism and diversity in B.C.

Recent climate-related disasters have challenged British Columbians and reinforced the need to secure a low-carbon future for B.C. Budget 2022 helps fight climate change, build back better from recent disasters, and makes sure people and communities throughout B.C. are protected from future disasters.

Fighting climate change with CleanBC

Budget 2022 builds on $2.3 billion in funding for CleanBC to date and invests in the fight against climate change with more than $1 billion in new funding for CleanBC and the Roadmap to 2030, including:

• Investing in the low carbon economy with $9 million over the fiscal plan to expand the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and to develop a new emissions cap on natural gas utilities – two of the most effective measures in reducing emissions and helping B.C. meet its legislated emissions reduction requirements.
• Supporting cleaner transportation over the fiscal plan, including:
  • PST exemption for used zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), effective now until 2027, and a higher threshold for luxury surtax on passenger ZEVs to a base of $75,000.
  • Motor fuel tax exemption for the use of hydrogen in internal combustion engines, encouraging use and development of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, effective immediately.
  • $79 million to continue the Go Electric program to provide rebates for electric-vehicle charging systems, fund hydrogen refueling infrastructure and support commercial vehicle pilot projects.
  • Making grants totalling $30 million available to local governments to improve active transportation infrastructure, like bike lanes and multi-use pathways.
  • Developing a Clean Transportation Action Plan to reduce emissions in the transportation sector.
  • Authorizing $249 million in Low Carbon Fuel Credits to continue light-duty zero-emission vehicle rebates.
  • Investing $5 million over two years to continue the Heavy-Duty Vehicle Efficiency Program, which partners with industry to educate drivers and install fuel-efficiency measures in heavy-duty vehicles.
• Supporting energy efficient buildings by:
  • Continuing incentives through the CleanBC Better Homes, Better Buildings program.
  • Introducing a Clean Buildings Tax Credit to encourage major retrofits for multi-unit residential and commercial buildings to meet CleanBC standards, effective April 1, 2022, and expiring April 1, 2025.
  • Introducing a PST exemption on heat pumps, paired with an increase to the PST on fossil fuel heating equipment to 12%, effective April 1, 2022, helping fund the cost of a new incentive to make heat pumps more affordable for rural and northern communities.
• Supporting industry to decarbonize with $310 million to maintain competitiveness, while reducing emissions and preparing for requirements to be net zero by 2050. This includes:
  • Identifying ways to reduce methane emissions.
  • Developing a provincewide approach to carbon capture, utilization and storage.
  • Increasing funding for CleanBC Program for industry in line with the carbon tax, while enhancing the CleanBC Industry Fund.
• Reducing emissions from communities and land-based activities by:
  • Establishing a new $76-million local government climate action program that will help local governments take action to reduce emissions and prepare for and adapt to climate change.
  • Promoting emissions reductions in B.C.’s forests with $22 million over three years to improve the province’s forests’ ability to sequester carbon, and to expand the Indigenous Forest Bioeconomy Program.
  • Supporting on-farm upgrades to sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture practices with $15 million over three years for the Beneficial Management Practices program.
• Advancing circular economy programs that reuse and collect plastic materials from the existing waste stream each year, with $13 million for further development of the Circular Economy Strategy.
• Investing $25 million in Cleantech innovation and partnership opportunities with the federal government to support CleanBC objectives, and increasing access to venture capital for clean-tech investment for small businesses by providing a temporary top up to the small business venture capital tax credit.

Protecting people and communities from climate-related disasters

Budget 2022 protects people and communities from climate-related disasters, while supporting efforts to build back better from recent events, with a total investment of over $2.1 billion from 2021 through the end of this fiscal plan. This includes:

• $1.5 billion to help communities and build critical infrastructure back better after disastrous weather events in 2021, including:
  • $400 million in 2022-23 for Emergency Management BC to support people and communities.
  • $1.1 billion earmarked in contingencies for disaster recovery costs over the next three years to have the flexibility to be responsive and support communities as the costs of recovery become better known.
  • This is in addition to $5 billion allocated by the Government of Canada to help response and recovery efforts in B.C.

• $600 million in operating and capital funding for continuing the response to climate-related disasters, disaster prevention and recovery projects, and to support British Columbians through future emergencies.
  • $145 million in new funding will strengthen B.C.’s emergency management and wildfire services:
    • The BC Wildfire Service will shift from a reactive to a proactive approach by moving to a year-round workforce that will deliver all pillars of emergency management: prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.   
    • Additional resources at Emergency Management BC will improve the public alerting system for wildfires and better support people and communities during climate-related events.
  • An additional $98 million over the fiscal plan to fund wildfire prevention work and maintain forest service roads used to respond to forest fires.
  • $210 million to support community climate-change preparedness and emergency management, including through the FireSmart program, the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, Indigenous-led emergency management priorities, and to support communities and First Nations to build more resilient dikes, floodplain mapping and other risk-reduction activities.
  • Investing in proactive strategies with $83 million to begin implementation of a new Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy, which includes:
    • Expanding climate monitoring networks.
    • Working with local and Indigenous governments to lead climate resilience initiatives.
    • Developing an extreme heat response framework.
    • Expanding the River Forecast Centre and provincial floodplain mapping program.
    • Building data collection and expertise to pinpoint where and how to mitigate climate risks.
    • Investing in climate-ready transportation networks.
    • Providing $30 million in grants to help safeguard B.C.’s watersheds.

Budget 2022 helps make sure people throughout B.C. are poised to benefit from a growing economy, today and into the future by investing in an inclusive, sustainable and innovative economy that works for everyone.

Meaningful reconciliation

Budget 2022 provides $12 million over three years to create a new Declaration Act Secretariat that will guide and assist government to meet its obligation to ensure legislation is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and is developed in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous Peoples.

Responding to the needs of Indigenous people and communities, Budget 2022 also includes:

• Funding to continue creating up to 15 First Nations primary care centres throughout the province, in partnership with the First Nations Health Authority.
• Supporting Aboriginal Head Start, which provides culturally based inclusive child care, early learning and family bonding opportunities for Indigenous children.
• Funding for Indigenous-led emergency management priorities in First Nations communities.
• Increased access to justice for Indigenous people through a virtual Indigenous Justice Centre.
• Connecting First Nations communities to high-speed internet.
• Expanding the Indigenous Forest Bioeconomy Program to include a new Accelerator Program, which will help Indigenous partners commercialize and scale up innovative forest-based products.

Supporting B.C.’s Economic Plan

Budget 2022 provides $50 million to support implementation of the Stronger BC Economic Plan: A Plan For Today, A Vision for Tomorrow, with investments to grow B.C.’s life sciences, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, continue government’s commitment to environmental, social and governance values, and support reconciliation through economic development.

It also includes funding for an integrated marketplace to speed the adoption of made‑in‑B.C. clean technologies and to establish a world-leading standard for environmental, social and governance reporting. In addition, B.C.’s Economic Plan includes Future Ready, a comprehensive plan to close the skills and labour gap in B.C.to meet the challenge of filling more than one million job openings over the next 10 years.

Building the labour force now

Budget 2022 supports the development of a strong, skilled workforce, by:

• Expanding training for health-care assistants to address critical staffing shortages in the long-term care, assisted living and home care sectors with $25 million in 2022-23. This builds on $75 million invested in Budget 2021 and will allow the Province to hire more than 5,000 new health-care assistants by 2022-23.
• Delivering community benefits and training the next generation of skilled workers, increasing opportunities for under-represented groups, and expanding the construction workforce through Community Benefits Agreements for key government capital projects.
• Meeting the growing demand for adult education with an additional $21 million over the next three years for the Graduated Adult Program, and continuing the Province’s commitment since 2017 to provide tuition-free adult literacy programs.
• Investing $21 million to certify more skilled trades personnel as journeypersons or apprentices, by expanding training seats and other services to help workers in 10 electrical, mechanical and automotive trades to become certified.

Connecting Communities

Budget 2022 invests more than $289 million in new funding as part of a five-year plan to connect more than 280 First Nations, rural and remote communities to high-speed internet, improving access to digital health-care services and educational opportunities and opening doors for people in these communities to work remotely and access digital markets. This funding will significantly accelerate the Province’s commitment to close the digital divide and will also help rural, forest-dependent communities and workers transitioning to new diversified economic opportunities under the Old Growth Strategy.

Building more affordable homes

Budget 2022 continues the implementation of the Homes for BC 10-year housing plan with a goal of delivering 114,000 affordable homes in British Columbia, with an additional $166 million over the fiscal plan. This brings the annual level of housing investments to over $1.2 billion by 2024-25.

This funding provides $100 million in 2022-23 to non-profit housing providers to accelerate the construction of mixed-income housing through the Community Housing Fund. It also adds additional resources for the HousingHub at BC Housing to keep up with growing demand for the $2 billion in low-cost financing announced in Budget 2021.

Investing in growing sectors

Nearly $200 million has been provided this year in grants to Genome BC and Michael Smith Health Research BC, creating new scientific discoveries and economic opportunities for a growing life sciences sector that includes more than 2,000 companies and employs 18,000 people in B.C.

Budget 2022 delivers $18 million to support the continued growth of the mining sector through the Regulatory Excellence in Mining strategy, after 2021 saw more than $600 million in mining exploration. This is a 50% increase over the previous year and the highest level in a decade, with growing demand around the world for the minerals that will play a key role in B.C.’s low-carbon future.

Supporting sectors through pandemic recovery

Budget 2022 earmarks $25 million in funding to support the tourism sector’s continuing recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional funding is also being provided this year to support non-profit organizations affected by the pandemic; the recovery of the arts, culture and music sectors through the Arts Impacts and Amplify BC programs; and additional tourism supports, including funding to support the safe restart of fairs, festivals and events.

Supporting workers and communities through the transition in forestry

Budget 2022 provides $185 million over the fiscal plan to support forestry workers and communities affected by old-growth logging deferrals. This includes connecting workers with short-term employment opportunities and providing education and skills training for community members. It also includes funding for partnerships with businesses and communities to help them transition to create jobs through diversified economies and infrastructure projects. Funding will also support the Bridging to Retirement program, which will provide up to $75,000 to eligible forestry workers and contractors 55 years or older to transition to retirement.

Sustainable land, water and resource management

Budget 2022 provides more than $44 million in new funding to create a new Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship, and support government’s goals of stimulating economic activity, environmental sustainability and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. The ministry will have a leadership role working with Indigenous governments and organizations to develop a new vision and new policies for land, water and resource management to bring government’s natural resource policy framework in line with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Budget 2022 reflects the choices government is making to build a stronger B.C. by investing to make life better for people now and in the future.

By taking a responsible approach to budgeting and fiscal planning, government is supporting British Columbians and communities to get through COVID-19 safely together, build climate-resilient infrastructure, and prepare for future challenges – and opportunities – together.

Budget 2022 includes an updated forecast deficit of $483 million for 2021-22, less than the $9.7 billion projected in Budget 2021. This decrease is mainly because of higher revenues, including significant one-time revenues and federal transfers, as well as higher natural resource and tax revenues as a result of stronger economic growth.

Economic highlights

• Following a 3.4% decline in 2020, B.C.’s economy expanded by an estimated 5% in 2021 and is forecast to expand by 4% in 2022 and 2.5% in 2023.
• Year-to-date to November 2021, retail sales in B.C. were up 13.6% compared to the same period in 2020.
• In November 2021, sales at food services and drinking places were 2.6% above pre-pandemic levels. However, broader tourism activities in B.C. remain well below pre-pandemic levels.
• B.C. housing markets and residential construction reached record highs, in volumes of sales, housing starts and prices in 2021.
  • The number of home sales increased by 32.8% in 2021 compared to 2020.
  • The average home sale price in B.C. increased by 18.7% in 2021 over 2020, following an 11.6% increase in 2020 over 2019.
  • Housing starts increased by 25.6% in 2021 to a record 47,607 units.
• There were more than 160,000 more jobs in B.C. in 2021, compared to 2020.
• B.C.’s unemployment rate averaged 6.5% in 2021, down from 8.9% in 2020. The unemployment rate in January 2022 was 5.1%, 0.1 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels.
  • Women and youth were over-represented in the sectors most affected during the pandemic, but employment for these groups has recovered.
  • Since the onset of the pandemic, racialized people in B.C. experienced higher unemployment rates than non-racialized people, but this gap has significantly narrowed in recent months.

Operating results

• The Third Quarterly Report projects an operating deficit of $483 million in 2021-22, which is an improvement of $1.2 billion from the second-quarter outlook reported November 2021.
• In the fiscal plan, the total revenue forecast rises from $68.6 billion in 2022-23 to $72.3 billion in 2024-25, and the total expense forecast rises from $73 billion in 2022-23 to $74.5 billion in 2024-25.
• Budget 2022’s three-year fiscal plan presents declining deficits, with $5.5 billion projected in 2022-23, declining to $3.2 billion projected in 2024-25.
• $6.6 billion in budget increases across the three-year fiscal plan will help build a stronger society, economy and environment to support B.C.’s future.

Being Prepared

• The variability of COVID-19 and climate-related disasters demand significant prudence, which is included in B.C.’s fiscal plan:
  • Pandemic and Recovery contingencies of $2 billion in 2022-23 and $1 billion in 2023-24 for short-term health and economic recovery programs related to the pandemic. These funds will continue to help the B.C. government respond quickly if any sectors need short-term support throughout the pandemic.
  • Almost $10 billion in contingencies funding over the next three years, including funding held for expected flood-related costs, public-sector wage negotiations, and other spending uncertainties.
  • Annual forecast allowances of $1 billion in each year of the fiscal plan to help guard against revenue volatility.
  • A forecast for B.C.’s real GDP growth that is lower than the average outlook provided by the Economic Forecast Council over the next three years (0.2 percentage points lower in 2022, 2023 and 2024).

Flood and wildfire recovery

• Budget 2022 earmarks more than $1.5 billion over the fiscal plan to help communities build back better from recent and future climate-related disasters, including floods and wildfires. This includes:
  • $400 million for Emergency Management B.C. to support ongoing disaster response and recovery costs, including debris removal and clean-up.
  • $1.1 billion in general programs contingencies to cover additional costs.
  • In addition, $100 million is provided for capital costs to repair damage to provincial public-sector buildings.
• These allocations are in addition to the $5 billion in spending allocated by the Government of Canada to help disaster response and recovery efforts in B.C.
• The Province will continue working with affected communities and residents to assess the extent of the damage to critical infrastructure from recent floods and increase resilience against future events.

Capital spending

• New investments in schools, universities, hospitals, affordable housing, highways, bridges, rapid transit and other taxpayer-supported infrastructure will help people and communities recover from the past two years, and harness the opportunities of a clean and inclusive economy.
• These investments will also support 100,000 jobs in communities around the province to contribute to a strong and sustainable economy.
• Taxpayer-supported capital spending is projected to increase to a record level, totalling $27.4 billion over the fiscal plan, a $1.1 billion increase over Budget 2021’s three-year plan.

Debt levels

• B.C.’s taxpayer-supported debt is projected to be $61.7 billion at the end of fiscal year 2021-22, almost $10 billion less than was forecast in Budget 2021.
• Debt is expected to increase to $90.8 billion at the end of 2024-25, to finance the capital investments needed, as well as ensure continued support for people, businesses and communities while government builds a strong economic recovery for B.C.
• The taxpayer-supported debt-to-GDP ratio, a key metric used by credit rating agencies, is below 25% in each year of the fiscal plan, reaching 22.8% by 2024-25.
• B.C.’s debt remains affordable due to low interest rates and the Province’s excellent credit rating, enabling government to invest now to support people and businesses and encourage a strong recovery.
• The interest bite, representing the taxpayer-supported interest costs as a percentage of provincial government revenue, remains historically low at three cents per dollar in 2022-23.

Responsible fiscal management is a priority for government to be able to continue to deliver the services people rely on and build a stronger, more equitable future for everyone.

As temporary funding for COVID-19 and flood response and recovery are no longer required, the Province will return to a practice of increasing expenditures within the bounds of the increase in revenues that are available for each budget cycle.