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Premier David Eby says public service jobs that don’t 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.
“There’s no question we have to reduce the size of the public sector generally in British Columbia,” he said on Monday at an unrelated news conference in North Vancouver.
“We’re facing significant budget pressures as we transition into the new economy that Canada is building right now.”
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.
A year ago, the NDP government launched an expenditure management and efficiency review to try and find savings, under which Eby said some 2,000 public sector jobs have been eliminated so far.
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.
“There is room for us to reduce bureaucracy and administration while protecting the core front-line services for British Columbians,” he said.
A 2025 analysis 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.
The provincial government is working to grow revenues through resource projects in concert with a federal push to do the same.
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.
BC’s mining sector is providing thousands of jobs for British Columbians while bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into Canada’s economy.
We’re making the permitting process faster, so we can unlock BC’s potential as the economic engine of Canada’s new economy. pic.twitter.com/t23ytnbtq7
In the province’s November quarterly report, Finance Minister Brenda Bailey projected a slight bump in revenues, but said the budget could be strained by spending on capital projects and a negotiated deal with the B.C. General Employees’ Union.
The Official Opposition has been critical of the NDP’s handling of the economy, saying high debt levels and deficit budgets will continue despite Eby’s promises to get a handle on them.
“The money is gone, the jobs are gone, and private sector potential is fleeing,” said Gavin Dew, MLA for Kelowna-Mission and Conservative critic for jobs, economic development, innovation and AI in a release last week.
