B.C. ended fiscal year with $5B deficit, as wildfires, lower revenue bite into budget

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy tables the budget in the B.C. legislature in Victoria on Feb. 22, 2024. (Chad Hipolito / The Canadian Press)

British Columbia has ended the fiscal year with a deficit of about $5 billion, some $900 million lower than the most recent forecast, but higher than last year's budget had called for.

Public accounts show higher revenues from vehicle insurer ICBC were offset by lower revenues from natural resources.

The final $5.035 billion deficit for the year ending March 31 is lower than the $5.9 billion forecast last quarter, but higher than the $4.2 billion originally predicted in the 2023 budget.

A statement from the Finance Ministry says the public accounts show the province spent a record $1.1 billion on wildfire management, exceeding the budgeted amount by $401 million.

It says increased spending on "priority services" including health, education and housing also contributed to the deficit exceeding the budget figure.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy says it's the "wrong approach" to respond to fiscal challenges with deep cuts to services.

"With a slower world economy and a growing population, we cannot afford to have a deficit of services," she says in the statement.

The public accounts show B.C.'s economic growth was 1.6 per cent, which the ministry says outpaced the national average.

"B.C. continues to have one of the best credit ratings and one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios among provinces," the provincial statement says.

The deficit is forecast to increase to $7.9 billion in the current fiscal year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2024.