Building a Stronger BC

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While this past year has presented many challenges for all British Columbians, our government has taken historic steps to invest in people and the services we all count on:

Pandemic Supports

  • Helping more than 2.7 million British Columbians with the BC Recovery Benefit that provided up to $1,000 for families and single parents, and up to $500 for individuals and getting British Columbians vaccinated in the largest immunization plan in BC’s history, with approximately 90% of eligible people receiving at least one dose

Health Care

  • More urgent and primary care centres and additional primary care networks in Burnaby and throughout BC
  • Building, modernizing and expanding hospitals throughout the province, including Burnaby Hospital
  • Funding levelled-up wages for workers in long-term care and assisted living
  • Accelerating BC’s response to the opioid crisis across the full continuum of care: prevention, harm reduction, safe prescription medications, treatment and recovery

Affordability

  • Biggest ICBC rate reduction in history, saving BC drivers an average of $400 and providing significantly better care for people injured in a crash, while providing hundreds of dollars in rebates to ensure ICBC savings go back into the pockets of British Columbians;
  • Saving families up to $672 a year per child with free public transit for kids 12 and younger
  • 9,000 new homes people can afford through Budget 2021, as part of the government’s 10-year Homes for BC plan
  • Protecting renters by freezing rent increases until the end of 2021 and limiting future increases to the rate of inflation, while eliminating illegal renovictions
  • Helping those who are struggling most by delivering the largest-ever permanent increase to income assistance and disability assistance rates, and a 53% increase to income assistance since 2017
  • Helping 80,000 low-income seniors by increasing the Senior’s Supplement for the first time
  • Making it easier to find affordable, quality child care through the 10-year Childcare BC plan by doubling the number of $10-a-day child care spaces, giving early childhood educators a well-deserved raise and continuing to build and expand spaces

Reconciliation with Indigenous People

After becoming the first province to enshrine the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in law in 2019, B.C. is continuing to move forward on the path of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples by:

  • Actively supporting First Nations to develop and implement their own strategies to facilitate truth telling, healing and justice for survivors, intergenerational survivors and communities as caretaker communities lead investigations at former Indian Residential Schools and Indian Hospitals in BC
  • Delivering, in collaboration with Indigenous partners, the action plan required under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act to build strong relationships based on recognition and implementation of the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples protected in Canada’s constitution
  • Extending support for cultural preservation and revitalization by funding key projects designed to preserve and respect Indigenous cultures, including the retention and revitalization of First Nations languages
  • Moving further toward long-term agreements that provide greater self-determination, including recent shared prosperity agreements with the Tahltan Nation and working together in partnership with the Upper Nicola Band to invest in a world-leading clean fuels plant
  • Supporting the demolition of a former residential school and construction of a new community centre in Lower Post through partnerships with the Daylu Dena Council, Liard First Nation, Taku River Tlingit First Nation, the Tahltan people, the Kaska people, and the federal government

Jobs

  • 85,000 jobs created with record infrastructure investments
  • Eliminate outdated, inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and modernizing the royalty system so it can help reduce emissions and deliver a fair return for British Columbians
  • Working with BC Hydro to make it easier and more affordable for British Columbians to switch from fossil fuels to clean electricity
  • Bringing together innovators, industry, government and experts to help fight the climate crisis through BC’s new Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy
  • Supporting BC shipyards to build capacity and become increasingly competitive with investments to support more shipbuilding, refit, repair and maintenance in BC
  • Sectoral targets to guide the reduction of carbon pollution, keeping government accountable as it works with each sector of the economy to lower emissions while remaining globally competitive as part of North America’s most ambitious climate plan, CleanBC