General:

• $4.2 Billion deficit in Budget 2023
• Focus on strengthening public health care, not privatizing health care
• Building on recent growth in women’s employment in BC; a a reflection on government’s investment in child care
• Putting this year’s new investments/multi-billion-dollar surplus to work: deliver another round of the BC Affordability Credit, protect people from evictions and rent hikes, support growing cities/ towns with a total of $1 billion in grants
• These grants are going to all 188 of B.C.’s municipalities & regional districts

Economy

• Forecasting one million job openings in the next decade
• Vancouver’s tech sector is growing at the highest rate in North America
• Last year: record-breaking mineral exploration & funding for a new critical mineral strategy in this year’s budget will continue to support the sector
• Ready to deliver materials needed to help transition away from fossil
• fuels – nickel for batteries in electric cars
• New funding to help small and medium-sized businesses implement solutions for today’s labour market challenges & prepare for a changing economy
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Health Care

• Free prescription contraception will be available for women and transgender and non-binary people starting April 1.
• Additional $6.4 billion to strengthen + improve health care over the next 3 years
• Adding $2.6 billion to meet the growing demand for health services, including cancer care
• New deal for family doctors; nearly $1 billion for the health workforce strategy will recruit, train and retain workers, and also adding 1,700 health care staff & training 3,000 more graduates

Mental Health and Addictions

• Delivers more than $1 billion -> in new funding over 3 years to support services and capital projects for mental-health, addictions and treatment services
• Delivering wraparound services for youth & more Indigenous treatment centres
• Begin with new investments in Road to Recovery (in partnership with Providence Health and Vancouver Coastal Health)
• Almost 1 month ago, British Columbia became the 1^st province to decriminalize people who use drugs

Housing

• Invest $4.2 billion to deliver new homes – centered around a housing action plan
• New $500-million Rental Protection Fund
• New investments in BC Housing (to upgrade older rental buildings, and adding thousands of new rental homes)
• Introducing a new renter’s tax credit: new income-tested credit will put $400 back into the pockets of low and moderate-income renters (expect this will benefit more than 80% of renters in the province)

Affordability

• Freezing basic car insurance rates for another 2 years
• $100 credit to reduce everyone’s power bill and increased BC Affordability Credit with adults receiving up to $164 more and children up to $41
• Permanent lift to the BC Family Benefit with a 10% increase (parents will receive $1,750 for the 1^st child, $1,100 for the 2^nd and $900 for the 3^rd). Single parents will get extra $500 dollars a year
• Income/Disability Rates – will be increased

Safe Communities

• Safer Communities Action Plan with a commitment of $462 million over 3 years
• Next 2 years, another 10 Indigenous Justice Centres will open
• Expand the number of mental-health crisis-response teams: includes integrated mobile teams

Climate change

• $1 billion over the next 3 years to fight climate change (by building more climate-resilient communities)
• CleanBC Go Electric program will continue
• Pilot projects for heavy-duty electric vehicles (so transportation-based industries can shift away from fossil fuels)
• Enhanced Climate Action Tax Credit
• New staff members will help move key resource/infrastructure projects forward

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