Victoria – Anita Huberman is the Board Chair at Western Community College, Honorary Captain (Navy), Former President & CEO, Surrey Board of Trade, Former National Film Board Trustee.
She posted an overview to social media on the 2026 BC Budget:
BC BUDGET 2026
The budget has been tabled but still requires formal legislative adoption to be fully approved and authorized. Some observed highlights:
*Income tax will increase from 5.06 per cent to 5.60 per cent on the first $50,363 of taxable income, which the finance ministry estimates will cost the average taxpayer an additional $76 per year.
*At the same time, B.C. tax reduction credit for lower income earners will increase by $115 which the finance ministry says will translate to net savings for over 40 per cent of taxpayers. The change will have a greater effect for those with higher incomes.
*The services that will be subject to the PST going forward include: accounting and bookkeeping; architectural, geoscientist and engineering services; rental and strata property management; real estate commission; and security and private investigation services.
*PST exemptions on services related to clothing and footwear, and on basic cable and residential landline bills will be eliminated. There will also be an exemption for goods used to make or repair clothing—such as patterns, yarn, thread and fabric.
*The additional school tax rate for properties with assessed values of between $3 million and $4 million is set to increase from 0.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent. For properties assessed at $4 million or over, the tax will be hiked from 0.4 per cent to 0.6 per cent.
*The speculation and vacancy tax is also set to increase, from three per cent to four per cent for 2027.
*There will also be a significant change to the interest rate structure for the property tax deferment program. Rather than simple interest, compound interest will be charged at a rate of prime plus two per cent.
*15,000 full-time-equivalent positions are set to be eliminated by the end of the 2028/29 fiscal year, which the province says will translate to savings of $2.85 billion. An estimated 2,500 of the full-time jobs will be cut from the B.C. Public Service, which staffs core government offices and ministries. School districts, health authorities, Crown corporations, and post-secondary institutions are examples of other public sector organizations from which the remaining 12,500 positions will be cut.
*Savings from additional “expenditure management” are projected to amount to $3.51 billion over three years. Provincial reviews already underway of health authorities and post-secondary institutions are two examples the finance ministry provided of how the government is scrutinizing spending while working to improve efficiency.
*Government ministries and public sector employers will be expected to review spending—with consulting fees, overhead, and administrative costs identified as areas where potential savings can be found.
*The budget projects $85.5 billion in revenue and $98.8 billion in spending, sending the deficit to $13.3 billion.
New Investments:
• $634M for K–12 education
• $131M for mental health & addictions treatment
• $330M for ChildCareBC
• $475M for children & youth with disabilities
• $139M to address repeat violent offending
MORE INFORMATION:https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026FIN0003-000158
