Canada’s economy has disappointed in 2015, dipping into a recession in the first half of the year. BC’s economy is expected to perform better than other provinces but that’s largely because of weakness elsewhere (especially in resource-dependent provinces). Private sector forecasters have lowered their projections for this year’s economic growth in BC to 2.2% (from 2.7% this time last year). Projections for next year are more optimistic (2.7%) but they should be taken with a grain of salt, given the record of overly optimistic forecasts in the last few years.
Even before the current commodity price decline, BC’s economy wasn’t doing all that well. Growth has been modest since the 2008/09 recession, and employment growth has been particularly slow.
In such economic conditions, governments can play a role to stimulate the economy and support demand by running deficits and increasing public investment in infrastructure. Both provincially and federally, however, an obsession with balanced budgets is acting as a drag on growth.
We recommend that the 2016 BC Budget should prioritize measures to set the foundation of a more just and sustainable economy, which is less dependent on resource extraction and commodity exports (thus less vulnerable to swings in global commodity prices) and where prosperity is broadly shared with all residents in the province.
About the authors
Iglika Ivanova is a Senior Economist and the Public Interest Researcher at the CCPA’s BC Office. She researches and writes on key social and economic challenges facing BC and Canada, including poverty, economic insecurity and labour market shifts towards more precarious work. Iglika is Co-Director of the Understanding Precarity in BC Project (UP-BC). Iglika also investigates issues of government finance, tax policy and privatization and how they relate to the accessibility and quality of public services. She is particularly interested in the potential for public policy to build a more just, inclusive and sustainable economy. Follow Iglika on Twitter
Marc Lee is a Senior Economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Marc joined the CCPA’s British Columbia office in 1998, and is one of Canada’s leading progressive commentators on economic and environmental policy issues. From 2009 to 2015, Marc led the CCPA’s Climate Justice Project (CJP), which published a wide range of research on fair and effective approaches to climate action through integrating principles of social justice. Marc continues to write about climate and energy policy, strategies for affordable housing, federal and provincial budgets and macroeconomics. Marc has an MA in Economics from Simon Fraser University and a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario. Marc is a past chair of the Progressive Economics Forum, a national network of heterodox economists. He also served as a Visiting Professor at Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy in 2024 to 2025.
