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Premier David Eby says public service jobs that don\u2019t support the front-line delivery of services to British Columbians will continue to be targeted as his government prepares to unveil its 2026 budget a week from now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s no question we have to reduce the size of the public sector generally in British Columbia,\u201d he said on Monday at an unrelated news conference in North Vancouver. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re facing significant budget pressures as we transition into the new economy that Canada is building right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The province has projected a $11.2-billion deficit for this fiscal year, ending March 31, as government revenues lag over the end of the carbon tax program, lower property transfer taxes amid a cooling housing market, and other economic uncertainties.<\/p>\n
A year ago, the NDP government launched an expenditure management and efficiency review<\/a> to try and find savings, under which Eby said some 2,000 public sector jobs have been eliminated so far.<\/p>\n He said there will be more cuts of this kind reflected in the 2026 budget, but the government is committed to keeping services levels in health care and education high.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is room for us to reduce bureaucracy and administration while protecting the core front-line services for British Columbians,” he said.<\/p>\n A 2025 analysis<\/a> from the Business Council of British Columbia said there were 612,000 B.C. public sector employees in the province, about 134,000 more than pre-pandemic trends suggested.<\/p>\n The provincial government is working to grow revenues through resource projects in concert with a federal push to do the same.<\/p>\n Eby said on Monday that the province had secured $3 billion in mining investment commitments over the past 30 days, with up to $40 billion expected by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n BC\u2019s mining sector is providing thousands of jobs for British Columbians while bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into Canada\u2019s economy.
We\u2019re making the permitting process faster, so we can unlock BC\u2019s potential as the economic engine of Canada\u2019s new economy. pic.twitter.com\/t23ytnbtq7<\/a><\/p>\n