HIGHLIGHTS: Some of the new and major items in the B.C. budget

Apr 20, 2021 | 2:23 PM

VICTORIA — Highlights of the British Columbia budget presented Tuesday:

$26.4 billion capital plan over three years to build hospitals, schools, transit and roads while creating 85,000 jobs.
$500 million for mental health and addictions services, including targeted funding for youth, 195 treatment and recovery beds for substance users and an expansion of overdose crisis response programs.
$11 million to more than double the number of $10-a-day child care spaces with 3,750 spaces offered through 75 additional ChildcareBC Universal Prototype Sites.
$1.6 billion for poverty reduction strategies, including a record increase of $175 per month increase for income and disability assistance rates, and the first increase of $50 to the Senior’s Supplement since it was introduced 34 years ago.
$506 million to support CleanBC, including the expansion of electric vehicle charging stations, electrification of more school buses and ferries, and the elimination of the PST on e-bike purchases.
Additional revenue and lower spending puts the deficit for 2021-22 at a projected $9.7 billion, lower than the $13.6 billion forecast in December.
$26 million to make transit free for children ages 12 and under, with the first phase launching in Metro Vancouver in September.