BC Budget Funds 2025 Services and Projects

Summary#

This bill gives the British Columbia government permission to spend money for the 2025–26 fiscal year. It authorizes funding for day‑to‑day services and for capital projects, loans, and investments as laid out in the government’s budget Estimates.

• Allows about CAD $82.15 billion for operating costs like health care, schools, and social services.
• Allows about CAD $1.56 billion for capital projects and for government loans and investments.
• Lets money be paid from the province’s main account (the consolidated revenue fund).
• Folds in earlier short‑term spending approval so funding continues without gaps.
• Does not set tax rates or create new programs on its own; it funds what the budget already described.

What it means for you#

• Residents

  • Health care, education, child care, transit, and other services keep running and can pay their bills.
  • If the budget added or expanded programs, this bill lets those dollars flow.
  • No new taxes are created by this bill.

• Public sector workers

  • Paycheques and operating budgets for ministries, schools, and hospitals are funded for the year.

• Families, students, patients

  • Funding for clinics, hospitals, K‑12 schools, colleges, and community services continues as planned in the budget.

• Local governments and non‑profits

  • Provincial grants and contracts can be paid on time.
  • Capital funding for projects listed in the Estimates can proceed.

• Businesses and contractors

  • The province can pay suppliers and move ahead with approved construction and procurement.

Expenses#

Estimated annual authorization: about CAD $83.7 billion for 2025–26.

• About CAD $82,146,902,000 for day‑to‑day (operating) expenses across ministries and services.
• About CAD $1,560,352,000 for capital projects and for loans, investments, and other financing transactions listed in the budget Estimates.
• Includes amounts already approved earlier in the year, now rolled into the full‑year authority.
• Money comes from the consolidated revenue fund (the province’s main account).

Proponents' View#

• Keeps essential services funded without interruption.
• Carries out the spending plan already reviewed in the budget Estimates.
• Provides certainty for workers, families, schools, hospitals, and communities.
• Supports approved capital projects that can create jobs and improve infrastructure.
• Is a routine annual step needed for government to operate.

Opponents' View#

• The total authorized spending is large; some worry about overall fiscal pressure and debt.
• Say the bill gives broad spending authority with limited detail in the law itself, relying on Estimates that may be hard for the public to parse.
• Concern that capital and financing powers could be used with too little oversight between budget updates.
• Argue that quick passage of supply bills can limit debate on priorities and performance.