Exploring the Potential of Home Rebates, Financing, and Critical Minerals Development in BC: An Evaluation of Early Campaign Trail Plans
The B.C. NDP, Conservatives, and Green Party have already made a number of new promises since the provincial election campaign officially kicked off on Sept. 21.
NDP Leader David Eby said on Sept. 25 that if elected, his government would provide 40 percent financing of the price of homes for first-time buyers.
The party has also promising a new plan to bring more doctors and cut health-care wait times. This includes expanding the role of pharmacists by letting them test and prescribe for more conditions, such as strep throat and urinary tract infections.
The plan also involves hiring more physician assistants and reducing paperwork for doctors. The plan would allow immediate provisional licences for doctors, nurses, and midwives trained in Canada, and allow professionals trained outside the country to get provisional licences in six weeks. The governing party also notes that over the past year, 800 new family doctors and 6,3000 new nurses have been hired.
While campaigning in Terrace on Sept. 24, Eby said he aims to grow the province’s critical minerals sector, providing measures such as guaranteeing permit review timelines and upgrading key highway infrastructure in B.C.’s northwest.
The NDP is also touting its previous actions while in government since 2017, including building homes, expanding health-care facilities such as Richmond Hospital, lowering insurance rates, eliminating medical services plan premiums, boosting the B.C. Family Benefit, and hiring 250 more police officers.
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On the house affordability issue, the the governing NDP says it is currently delivering 80,000 homes now and will be building 300,000 over the next 10 years, and that it’s bringing in a new tax to discourage house flipping. It also says it’s “tackling housing costs by taking on speculators, cutting red tape and breaking down barriers to construction.” Eby says his government has helped tenants by putting a cap on rent increases, and building 10,000 units of student housing to relieve pressure from the rental market.
The party says it also has a focus on fighting climate change, and says it’s tackling organized crime and keeping repeat violent offenders off the street.
Conservative Party Promises
The Conservatives also announced plans on the home affordability issue with a tax rebate for B.C. residents.
Leader John Rustad said the rebate would help the middle class with rent and mortgage payments by returning up to $3,000 a month to qualifying residents.
The rebate would be part of the 2026 budget and cost the province a maximum of $900 million in 2026, the party said. Residents would be able to claim $1,500 per month in housing costs, rising $500 each year up to $3,000. The rebate would be based on tax credits worth 5.06 percent of eligible housing costs, the Conservatives said.
The party has also announced more tax credits for family caregivers as part of its support package for seniors, and said it would increase funding for home support services and eliminate daily user fees. It says it will also expand long-term care beds by 5,000 units by 2030 and tackle rising crime against seniors.
The party says it also has a focus on promoting B.C. as a “global mining superpower,” especially in the critical mineral segment, by streamlining permitting processes, reducing regulatory burdens, and creating a “competitive tax environment,” while ensuring companies uphold environmental standards and indigenous partnerships
On the campaign trail, Rustad has called for the closure of the province’s “supervised consumption and overdose prevention sites,” which he terms “drug den injection” sites. He also said he would tackle anti-Semitism by linking funding for universities to how they perform in upholding student safety, introduce mandatory anti-Semitism training for law enforcement and politicians, and other initiatives.
Speaking at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention on Sept. 20, Rustad said if elected his party would scrap the carbon tax as part of its plans to tackle cost-of-living issues, and invest $1 billion in annual infrastructure funding.
On health care, Rustad said on Sept. 24 that he would increase funding while removing “the burden of bureaucratic bloat,” and change the funding model to be activity-based, meaning hospitals get paid when they treat patents, rather than receiving block grants regardless of how many patients they treat.
Green Party Promises
The B.C. Green Party has also been making new policy announcements on the campaign trail.
The party said on Sept. 24 that it would expand safer supply programs as part of its strategy to tackle the province’s drug-use crisis, and regulate treatment and recovery programs while launching education and prevention programs.
The Greens say they want to strengthen democracy by lowering the voting age to 16 and creating a Standing Citizens Assembly, “a diverse group of 40 randomly selected citizens who meet to deliberate and offer recommendations on key issues like climate change and infrastructure.”
The election will be held on Oct. 9.
