Vancouver business associations respond to B.C. Budget 2025

On the same day that Trump’s 25 percent tariffs came into effect, the provincial government released its Budget 2025.

Standing Strong for B.C., the province’s three-year financial plan, invests heavily in jobs and public services — particularly those healthcare and social supports — while also boosting what finance minister Brenda Bailey called a “self-sufficient economy” as uncertainty in the markets reigns. "This is not a budget that has new splashy announcements," she said.

Not everyone, however, is happy with Budget 2025. While a number of industry groups were content with the low investment in business and innovation, given the anticipation of deep economic pullbacks thanks to the tariffs, several critics highlighted B.C.’s growing debt as a major cause for concern.

Innovation and tech-sector developments

At a moment of market destabilization, the B.C. budget provides few new spending commitments for tech and innovation. 

The biggest line item for the industry is $30 million invested over three years ($10 million per year) into the Integrated Marketplace Initiative. The program connects tech companies with commercial partners to test their products and services in real-world environments. The Initiative has already been running for a number of years, and has helped numerous businesses scale up, expand into new markets, and create more high-quality jobs and opportunities in the province. In Bailey’s speech unveiling the budget, she highlighted the work of battery innovator Moment Energy, which benefited from its initial connection with the Vancouver International Airport as part of the Integrated Marketplace, and went on to land major customers and earn a spot on the prestigious Global Cleantech 100 list.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT), which gave the Budget an overall grade of C-minus, pointed out that the most substantial economic initiative from the government continues to be a significant capital plan investing in transportation infrastructure, electrification, hospitals, and schools — and not into businesses.

“We were hoping that there would be a few signals of an agenda for growth that the government had been talking about,” GVBOT President and CEO Bridgette Anderson said. “We’re waiting to see some details. We had thought that we might see some signals of the budget around attracting investment, cutting red tape, around the cost and the ease of doing business in B.C., but we did not see that.”

The CEO of the Frontier Collective, Dan Burgar, had a stronger stance, criticizing the Budget for what he called a failure to prioritize innovation and growth. “A record $10.9 billion deficit, no major investments, and a passive approach won’t future-proof our economy,” he said. “We need bold action, not just contingency plans.”

The BC Tech Association, meanwhile, suggested that it was “pleased to see” money still being allocated to the innovation community “in a careful budget prepared at a time of significant economic uncertainty.” 

“One positive thing amidst all the gloom — never has this Government been more open to new ideas on how to grow the economy, build investor confidence, and create jobs,” the industry association said in a statement. 

Opportunities for local businesses

While the Budget revealed only a small direct investment in B.C. and Vancouver tech over the next few years, the anti-U.S. sentiment and draconian tariffs have stirred up a buy-local mentality that commentators say can benefit local businesses.

“The behind-the-scenes Budget conversation in Victoria centered on controlling what we can control, diversifying the markets we sell to, and buying more from Canadian companies,” BC Tech revealed. “The Premier has made it clear B.C.’s government will be looking to prioritize buying from B.C. or Canadian companies, and government is working to develop strategies to implement this, for example through the proposal evaluation process. Details will be published on the BC Bid website in due course.”

The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) agrees that new opportunities will arise from the province’s push to centre B.C. products and services. The organization released a statement that was neither positive nor negative about Budget 2025, pointing out instead that the announcement matched its expectation that the government’s budget “would be defined by fiscal restraint.”

“Uncertain times call for governments to double-down on low-cost strategic innovation policies — measures like strategic procurement reform and building on the B.C. government’s intellectual property strategy,” the CCI said. “British Columbia innovators stand ready to support the economy, and our homegrown technology companies are working to drive the kind of productivity growth and wealth creation that can stand as a bulwark against geopolitical volatility.”

As the bulk of the Budget’s investment enters essential services like healthcare and social supports, the organization highlighted new opportunities that open up for the province’s tech businesses. 

“Many of the province’s great health technology companies can be part of a cost-effective solution for the B.C. government, driving more efficient care and better patient outcomes, while boosting domestic economic activity,” the organization suggested.

Debt and the deficit

The budget projects deficits totaling $31 billion over three years, without factoring in the impact of tariffs. The government has also provided a revised tariff impact scenario that estimates the province will lose $43 billion real GDP, and shed 45,000 jobs — an outcome that relies on the federal government following through on the significant support it’s already pledged, including transferring any revenue from the county’s retaliatory tariffs to the affected B.C. businesses.

Under the new fiscal plan, the province's debt-to-GDP ratio — a measure often used by investors and credit rating agencies to analyze a government's ability to manage its debt load — is forecasted to rise to nearly 27 percent from its current level of 23 percent. It’s then expected to increase to 31 percent in 2026, and 34 percent in 2027.

For its fiscal management, GVBOT awarded Budget 2025 another C-minus. Contrary to previous signals from the government, it said, there is no plan forthcoming towards a balanced budget.

“The fiscal plan does include modest expenditure management targets of $300 million in 2025/26, $600 million in 2026/27, and $600 million in 2027/28,” it summarized. “To mitigate against unexpected and unknown costs, the Contingencies Vote includes allocations of $4 billion in each year of the fiscal plan. Priorities for contingency funding noted by the government include caseload pressures, compensation increases related to a new collective bargaining mandate, and emerging priorities.”

Carson Binda — the B.C. director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation — felt more strongly about the climbing deficit. He called the latest budget an "outright disaster for taxpayers, families and small businesses" because it will nearly double the province's overall total debt in three years. He expects B.C.'s credit rating, which currently ranks favourably among the other provinces, to be downgraded.

The Business Council of B.C. agreed, saying it’s concerned about “the ongoing deterioration in B.C.’s public finances” and what it considers the absence of a credible path to restore fiscal sustainability.

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