Ben Eisen and Tegan Hill are analysts at the Fraser Institute. As we ring in the new year, many British Columbians will make resolutions to address long-standing problems or break bad habits. For Premier David Eby’s government, the most important resolution should be to finally reduce spending in 2026 after a multi-year spending spree.A quick look at the province’s recent fiscal history shows just how quickly spending has increased—and how this trend has contributed to today’s serious fiscal challenges.From 2000 to 2017, the British Columbia government’s finances were characterized by spending restraint and generally prudent management. During this time, spending grew only slightly more than the rate required to offset cost pressures from inflation and population growth. More specifically, inflation-adjusted per-person spending increased by 8.4%, which is an average annual increase of 0.5%. .GIESBRECHT: Supply management can no longer be justified.Compare that to the recent past. From 2017 to 2025, inflation-adjusted per-person spending has increased by 27.8%. In other words, spending has increased much more in the past eight years than it did in the previous 16 years combined. This represents an average spending growth rate (again per person and adjusted for inflation) of 3.1% annually. The effects on the province’s fiscal health have been severe and illustrate why the Eby government should resolve to change course. Back in 2017, the extended period of spending discipline from the previous decade and a half had put the province in a strong fiscal position. The budget was balanced and the debt burden relative to the size of the economy was among the smallest in the country and shrinking by the year. Back then, B.C.’s finances were among the most solid in Canada..The past eight years of rapid spending growth have transformed the province’s financial position for the worse. This year the government will run its third straight operating deficit—and its $11.2 billion projected budget deficit for the 2025/26 fiscal year will be the largest in Canada. These large deficits combined with capital spending are causing the province’s debt burden to grow quickly. Taxpayer-supported debt was equal to 15.7% of the province’s GDP in 2016/17, but according to the government’s fiscal plan, this figure will reach 35.5% in 2027/28 when the debt will reach a projected $171.1 billion (or $29,750 for every man, woman and child in the province)..KEENEY: Bondi Beach and the failure of the liberal imagination.Consequently, B.C.’s status as a strong fiscal performer has been turned upside down. And if it continues on its current trajectory, the province will be one of the most indebted in Canada in less than five years. According to Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer, B.C. has the most unsustainable finances of any province. Multiple credit rating downgrades from independent rating agencies further confirm the province’s fiscal freefall.Why should British Columbians care? Because government debt has real consequences for taxpayers. For example, provincial government debt interest payments will reach a projected $7.5 billion in 2027/28, up from $2.6 billion in 2016/17. All this money would be better used on other priorities including to create fiscal room for tax relief that would put money back in taxpayer pockets and help drive economic growth. The dramatic collapse of the province’s fiscal health is the direct result of the government’s unrestrained spending growth in recent years. If the Eby government continues to overspend, the debt binge will continue to cost British Columbians. The correct New Year’s resolution for the Eby government is clear—reform and reduce provincial spending to start repairing the province’s badly damaged finances. Ben Eisen and Tegan Hill are analysts at the Fraser Institute.
