Finance Minister Katrine Conroy tables the budget in the legislative assembly in Victoria on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
VICTORIA – British Columbia Finance Minister Katrine Conroy has delivered an election-year budget that includes benefits for families and businesses as well as an increased deficit. Here are some of its key numbers and estimates:
$7.9 billion: 2024/2025 deficit
34 per cent: Deficit increase
0.8 per cent: 2024 real GDP growth
$445: Average BC Family Benefit bonus
$270 million: Three-year Increase in cancer spending
$68 million: Cost of providing free in-vitro fertilization over three years
$1 million: New payroll threshold for Employers Health Tax, up from $500,000
50,490: Record number of housing starts in 2023
10,000: Jobs per year over the next decade to boost the electricity grid
$123 billion: Total provincial debt
89 per cent: Increase in three-year taxpayer-funded capital spending, versus previous three years
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2024.
