B.C. Forecasts a Surplus of Over $800 Million

Scoring a hat-trick of its own, the province of B.C. has managed to balance the books for the third year in a row. Finance Minister Michael de Jong announced on Tuesday that the third consecutive balanced budget will build toward a stronger and more diversified economy and delivers additional support to British Columbians who are most in need of support.

The balanced budget for 2015 forecasts a surplus of $879 million in 2014-15, and the government expects total revenue to hit $46.4 billion for 2015. Total expenses over the three-year plan is forecast at $45.8 billion.

Photo credit: screen grab from Minister's announcement in Victoria.

As outlined by Minister de Jong, the budget provides room for modest investments that will strengthen and encourage growth in several key factions including economics, public services, and support networks for families in need.

In terms of strengthening economic growth across the province, key measures of the budget include continued tax credits, along with a $6.3 million in new base-budget funding to support B.C.'s mining industry, the implementation of the Water Sustainability Act, and the extension of the Digital Media Tax credit to 2018.

Effective September 1st, 2015, child support payments will be fully exempted from income assistance calculations. Translating into an additional $32 million over three years for some of the most in need children and families in the province, this change will benefit approximately 5,400 children who currently receive income and disability assistance.

Assisting in child care costs, approximately 180,000 families will begin receiving the B.C. Early Childhood Tax as of April. Providing up to $660 a year for children under the age of six, as many as 40,000 children may be eligible.

In addition, the budget has increased health care expenditures by almost $3 billion, and the province intends to provide up to $12.5 million to the Canadian Cancer Society towards establishing a world-class cancer prevention centre in Vancouver.

More over, $2.7 billion will be going towards health infrastructure including the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre in Kelowna.

“The discipline we showed through the recession to bring the budget into balance has given us the flexibility to make modest, strategic investments that maintain public services like health care and education, as well as strengthen and encourage growth in key economic sectors,” said de Jong.

Not forgetting about education, the 2015 budget outlines an investment of $10.7 billion in new capital projects over the coming three years, which includes the trades funding allocated to Okanagan College.

Total taxpayer-supported debt will rise by $3.7 billion between 2014 and 2018, as operating surpluses and balance sheet management are expected to help offset taxpayer-supported capital spending.

Reaching the lowest level since 1991, the direct operating debt is forecast to decline by more than 50 per cent from $10.2 billion to $4.8 billion. The economic growth for 2015 is expected to be 2.6 per cent.

In Tuesday's budget review, Finance Minister de Jong boasted about B.C.'s declining unemployment rate, which currently stands at 6.1 per cent, and stressed the importance of keeping a balanced budget to ensure future generations remain fiscally stable and responsible.

“We cannot stress enough the importance of good old fashioned fiscal prudence,” said de Jong. “We will not be a government that forces future generations to pay for our groceries.”