Last month, more than a quarter of British Columbians (26 per cent) identified the economy and jobs as the most important issue facing the province, ahead of health care (23 per cent) and below housing, poverty and homelessness (30 per cent).

Similar proportions of British Columbians who voted for the BC New Democratic Party (NDP) (24 per cent) or the Conservative Party of B.C. (27 per cent) in the 2024 provincial election place the economy and jobs at the top of their issue ladder—along with more than a third of the province’s residents aged 18 to 34 (34 per cent).

In the early years of this century, B.C. was consistently ahead of other Canadian provinces on most economic indicators. In a survey conducted this month, just under a third of the province’s residents (32 per cent) believe that B.C.’s economy is not doing as well as those in other Canadian jurisdictions, while only 14 per cent claim we are performing better than Alberta, Ontario or Quebec.

Only a third of British Columbians (33 per cent) rate the economic conditions in the province as “good,” while just over three in five (62 per cent) consider them “poor.” Residents are evenly divided on a question related to their own household’s finances, with almost equal proportions saying their situation is “good” (49 per cent) or “poor” (48 per cent).

More than half of British Columbians (51 per cent) foresee no change in the financial standing of their household over the next six months, and only 16 per cent expect an improvement. The view is more dire when residents ponder B.C.’s economy, with more than two in five (41 per cent) expecting overall economic conditions to worsen.

This backdrop is not particularly kind to the provincial government. By a 2-to-1 margin, British Columbians think the economy is not working well and few

expect the outlook to improve over the next six months. With the latest budget projecting a $13.3 billion deficit for B.C. in the 2026-27 fiscal year, there is no consensus on what to do next. With the latest budget projecting a $13.3 billion deficit for B.C. in the 2026-27 fiscal year, there is no consensus on what to do next.

Across the province, 45 per cent of British Columbians say they believe cutting programs is the best way to deal with the deficit, while a third (33 per cent) would prefer to raise taxes. As expected, the political divide is staggering. Under half of residents who voted for the BC NDP (46 per cent) or the BC Greens (48 per cent) in the last election choose to raise taxes, while more than two-thirds of those who supported the BC Conservatives (68 per cent) would rather cut programs.

British Columbians find common ground on what is causing the problems and a possible way to solve them. Just over three in five of the province’s residents (61 per cent) agree that many of the setbacks that B.C.’s economy has experienced can be blamed on the fact that Donald Trump is the U.S. president. While this view is shared by majorities of people who voted for the New Democrats or the Greens in 2024 (76 per cent and 69 per cent respectively), only 43 per cent of Conservative voters concur.

On the federal front, half of the province’s residents (50 per cent) expect B.C.’s economy to improve under Mark Carney’s leadership. British Columbians aged 55 and over are more likely to expect a positive effect from the federal government (56 per cent) than their counterparts aged 35 to 54 (50 per cent) and aged 18 to 34 (42 per cent).

British Columbians are evenly divided on whether the BC Conservatives (38 per cent) would be doing a better job than the BC NDP (also 38 per cent) on economic concerns if the party had won the 2024 provincial election.

This question outlines a serious challenge for the New Democrats. Animosity towards the incumbent government is nowhere near the levels reached in the final weeks of the Gordon Campbell tenure, but some cracks are appearing on the financial file. One in four BC NDP voters (25 per cent) think economic conditions would be better if John Rustad had become premier 18 months ago. Conversely, only 13 per cent of BC Conservative voters think the province dodged a bullet on financial matters by re-electing the New Democrats.

For British Columbians, there is no all-encompassing formula to deal with the deficit, but the appetite for red tape reduction is strong on both sides of the political spectrum. Right now, the tactic of blaming everything on the current White House is still resonating with the NDP base. However, due to constitutional term limits, this excuse has an expiry date.

Mario Canseco is president of Research Co.

Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from May 12-14, 2026, among 801 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.