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BC Provincial Debt Levels 1997 to 2024

The interest cost in the year ended March 31, 2024 was $$3.52 billion, or $$293.2 million per month. The debt per person (for every man, woman and child) grew by 15.9% in 2024, to $19,471.

Year	Taxpayer- Supported Debt $ millions	Self- Supported Debt $ millions	Total Provincial Debt $ millions	Population '000's @ July 31 Prev. Yr.	Provincial GDP $ millions	Debt to GDP	Debt per Capita	Party @ Mar 31
1997	$21,275	$8,096	$29,371	3,874	$108,454	27.1%	$7,582	NDP
1998	22,151	8,204	30,355	3,949	113,596	26.7%	7,687	NDP
1999	23,176	9,057	32,233	3,983	113,945	28.3%	8,093	NDP
2000	25,154	9,297	34,451	4,011	118,783	29.0%	8,589	NDP
2001	24,953	8,882	33,835	4,039	125,690	26.9%	8,377	NDP
2002	27,534	8,548	36,082	4,076	133,514	27.0%	8,852	Liberal
2003	29,383	7,470	36,853	4,098	138,193	26.7%	8,993	Liberal
2004	29,984	7,753	37,737	4,122	145,642	25.9%	9,155	Liberal
2005	28,668	7,201	35,869	4,155	157,675	22.7%	8,633	Liberal
2006	27,251	7,206	34,457	4,197	169,664	20.3%	8,210	Liberal
2007	25,968	7,471	33,439	4,244	182,251	18.3%	7,879	Liberal
2008	26,589	8,048	34,637	4,310	192,117	18.0%	8,036	Liberal
2009	26,446	11,568	38,014	4,384	203,820	18.7%	8,670	Liberal
2010	30,021	11,864	41,885	4,460	195,670	21.4%	9,391	Liberal
2011	31,855	13,299	45,154	4,530	208,295	21.7%	9,969	Liberal
2012	34,659	15,534	50,193	4,499	217,460	23.1%	11,157	Liberal
2013	38,182	17,634	55,816	4,543	222,565	25.1%	12,287	Liberal
2014	41,068	19,625	60,693	4,583	225,794	26.9%	13,243	Liberal
2015	41,880	21,040	62,920	4,631	238,726	26.4%	13,587	Liberal
2016	42,727	22,565	65,292	4,683	244,990	26.7%	13,942	Liberal
2017	41,499	24,338	65,837	4,752	261,808	25.1%	13,855	NDP
2018	43,607	21,312	64,919	4,817	279,370	23.2%	13,477	NDP
2019	42,681	23,281	65,962	4,992	295,316	22.3%	13,214	NDP
2020	46,229	25,932	72,161	5,071	306,272	23.6%	14,230	NDP
2021	59,750	27,350	87,100	5,148	295,282	29.5%	16,919	NDP
2022	62,341	28,325	90,666	5,215	347,653	26.1%	17,386	NDP
2023	59,888	29,492	89,380	5,319	389,129	23.0%	16,804	NDP
2024	75,402	32,060	107,462	5,519	408,058	26.3%	19,471	NDP
Year	Taxpayer- Supported Debt $ millions	Self- Supported Debt $ millions	Total Provincial Debt $ millions	Population '000's @ July 31 Prev. Yr.	Provincial GDP $ millions	Debt to GDP	Debt per Capita	Party @ Mar 31

Debt levels are as at March 31st of each year. Population is as at July 1st of each year in the same fiscal year - for instance, the 2024 debt is as at March 31, 2024, and the population is as at July 1, 2023.

With a BC provincial election happening on October 19, 2024, it seems odd that all of the political parties seem to be ignoring the massive debt problem. See Opinion: A return to massive deficits will bring fiscal austerity to B.C. by Jock Finlayson, chief economist of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, and Ken Peacock, chief economist at the Business Council of British Columbia.

Taxpayer-Supported Debt

Includes debt from:

provincial government direct operating

Capital:

education - K-12 education and post-secondary institutions

health facilities

highways, ferries and public transit

BC Transportation Financing Authority, BC Transit, public transit, SkyTrain extension

BC Pavilion Corporation

Homeowner Protection Office

social housing

other taxpayer-supported Crown corporations and agencies, loan guarantees (reconstruction, students, agricultural producers, etc.)

Self-Supported Debt

Includes debt from:

Commercial Crown corporations and agencies, and their debt in 2024:

	BC Hydro and Power Authority $29.351 billion
	BC Lottery Corporation $169 million
	Columbia Power Corporation $266 million
	Columbia Basin joint ventures $1.265 billion
	Post-secondary institutions' subsidiaries $682 million
	BC Liquor Distribution Branch $233 million
	Other $94 million - includes Columbia Basin Trust's' share of real estate investment joint ventures' debt and Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC)

Provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The GDP is the total value of all the goods produced and services provided in a year.

Information sources:

Elections BC - Provincial General Election Results

BC Ministry of Finance Public Accounts - Provincial debt summaries

Provincial Debt Summary March 31, 2024 (pdf)

BC Crown Publications - Debt statistics

BC Stats population estimates

Revised: October 20, 2024