BC Budget: Higher Child Benefit, Student Loan Interest Cut

The BC government is making life more affordable for parents, students with loans, and people on social assistance, and others, in its new budget.

Finance Minister Carole James says interest is immediately eliminated on all new and existing student loans from the province, which means an average student would save $2,300 in interest, based on a combined federal and provincial loan of $28,000 being repaid over 10 years.

Students, as you might expect, are celebrating the news.

“After years of urging for this change in the name of fairness and economic growth, the announcement will bring welcome relief to thousands of British Columbians. Students are very happy that the government has listened to our call, and has taken this important step towards mitigating student debt,” says Aran Armutlu, Chairperson of the BC Federation of Students. “This announcement will not only help current and future students, but also those who have completed their studies and are struggling to make loan payments.”

A new Child Opportunity Benefit will replace an existing tax program for families, providing families with one child under the age of 18 with as much as $1,600, more than double the old benefit.

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Social assistance payments are going up by $50 a month.

The BC Federaiton of Labour says the budget focusses on measures that will benefit thousands of working families, create opportunities for new and under-employed workers to access good, green jobs and strengthen employment standards.

“When you start to add up the increased infrastructure funding ($20 billion), the jobs created through retrofits of public buildings ($40 million) and private homes ($41 million), there is funding in this budget for a lot of good, green jobs being created,” saysLaird Cronk, President of the BC Federation of Labour. “An initiative near and dear to my heart is the addition of $6 million from CleanBC to support training programs for automotive technicians and electricians in the zero-emission vehicle sector.”

Business reaction to the NDP’s new budget is mixed, with support for program spending in a slowing economy, but concern about higher costs on business.

BC’s Chamber of Commerce says small and medium size businesses are not sure how they will be able to afford five billion dollars in cumulative increasing costs over the next three years.

The business group says the new Employers Health Tax, a higher carbon tax, rising minimum wages and climbing corporate tax rules are costs that will hurt their members.

The Business Council of BC says the new social benefits are important to strengthen supports for families, but the Horgan government should be taking more notice of a softening economy.

A revenue sharing agreement will provide First Nations with $3 billion over 25 years from gaming revenue, with every Aboriginal government eligible for between $250,000 and $2 million annually.

Support payments for foster and adoptive parents, as well as extended family members caring for children, are being increased at a cost of $85 million.

Another 200 modular homes will be built for homeless people, bringing the total across the province to 2,200.

The Clean BC climate plan will see $902 million spent to cut greenhouse gas emissions and offer incentives to help people retrofit their homes and purchase electric vehicles.

A surplus of $274 million is projected for 2019-20, $287 million in 2020-21 and $585 million in 2021-22.

The government expects to bring in $59 billion in revenue in 2019-20 and spend $58.3 billion.

Economic growth is forecast to hit 2.4 per cent in 2019 and between two and 2.3 per cent next year.

The BC Techers Federaiton says the government’s plan to keep investing record amounts in K–12 capital projects like new schools and seismic upgrades is strong, but the budget for operational funding is likely to fall short, said Clint Johnston, Second Vice-President of the BCTF.

“New schools and seismic upgrades are critical to proper learning environments and the safety of students and teachers,” said Johnston. “It’s good to see this government pushing ahead with record capital investments after years of school closures and stagnant funding by the previous government.”

Johnston welcomed the announcement of $550 million of new funding over three years but cautioned the year-over-year increases will fall short of what’s needed to meet immediate needs like addressing the ongoing teacher shortage.