British Columbia Budget Report 2017
February 21, 2017
Update: BC’s newly elected NDP government released an updated provincial budget on September 11, 2017.
On February 21, 2017, Finance Minister Michael de Jong presented the province’s fifth successive balanced budget. With a provincial election scheduled for May 9th, this will be the last budget before the election.
The surplus reported for the 2016-17 fiscal year is $1.46 billion, which is much higher than the surplus of $264 million predicted in last year’s budget. Surpluses are projected to continue, with a surplus of $295 million for the 2017-18 fiscal year and $244 million for 2018-19. The provincial economy is expected to grow by 2.1% in both 2017 and 2018. This comes off of strong estimated growth of 3% for 2016.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Surplus of $1.46 billion forecast for 2016-17
- Surplus of $295 million forecast for 2017-18
- Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums cut in half for households earning less than $120,000
- MSP premiums to be eliminated in the future if economic conditions permit
- Corporate tax rate on small business income cut by 0.5%.
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