Saturday, May 23, 2026
ADVT 
National

B.C. growth forecast drops to one per cent for 2023, but deficit projection improves

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 28 Nov, 2023 04:38 PM
  • B.C. growth forecast drops to one per cent for 2023, but deficit projection improves

British Columbia's economy is forecast to grow one per cent in 2023, a drop from the 1.2 per cent predicted earlier by the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry's second quarterly report also forecasts slower economic growth for next year of 0.7 per cent.

But the budget's September deficit forecast of $6.7 billion has improved by $1.1 billion, with this year's deficit now projected at $5.6 billion.

The ministry says in a statement the province's economy is being impacted by slow growth globally and high interest rates in Canada.

It says employment growth has expanded by 1.4 per cent, while B.C.'s population grew by three per cent.

Finance Minister Katrine Conroy says people's budgets have been squeezed by global inflation, while high interest rates are making the already high cost of buying or renting a home more expensive, but the government will continue supporting people by helping to ease the pressure of everyday costs. 

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Suspect in stabbings of mother and child in Edmonton dies in hospital

Suspect in stabbings of mother and child in Edmonton dies in hospital
The man was shot by Edmonton police last Friday after a 35-year-old woman and her 11-year-old child were stabbed outside Crawford Plains School in the southeastern part of the city. 

Suspect in stabbings of mother and child in Edmonton dies in hospital

Woman dead after being swept by Okanagan Lake

Woman dead after being swept by Okanagan Lake
Police say the 68-year-old was taking photos on a rock in Glen Canyon Regional Park when she slipped and fell into a creek. A friend who was with her called police.

Woman dead after being swept by Okanagan Lake

NDP leaves spring sitting at legislature facing turmoil in public housing management

NDP leaves spring sitting at legislature facing turmoil in public housing management
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says the government will continue to provide housing to people who need it most, but for now has halted new funding to Atira and will launch another audit.

NDP leaves spring sitting at legislature facing turmoil in public housing management

Housing in Abbotsford for women fleeing domestic violence

Housing in Abbotsford for women fleeing domestic violence
The head of a local non-profit organization that helps women and kids in the city says this will make a small dent as more than 180 women were on the wait-list for safe homes at the end of 2022. Michelle Puffer, with SARA for women, says this means that 12 women and their children will find a safe haven and can begin working on a new future.

Housing in Abbotsford for women fleeing domestic violence

B.C. sets record, delivers 350,000 surgeries last fiscal year, health minister says

B.C. sets record, delivers 350,000 surgeries last fiscal year, health minister says
The ministry says 99.9 per cent of the nearly 15,000 patients whose scheduled surgeries were postponed in the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 have had procedures if they still wanted them.

B.C. sets record, delivers 350,000 surgeries last fiscal year, health minister says

Coyote killed after attack on two-year-old child in Port Coquitlam, B.C., park

Coyote killed after attack on two-year-old child in Port Coquitlam, B.C., park
 The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says on Twitter that the attack happened Wednesday after 8 p.m. at Lions Park near the town centre. The service says the public should not feed dangerous wildlife under any circumstances, and violators will incur "enforcement action as warranted." 

Coyote killed after attack on two-year-old child in Port Coquitlam, B.C., park