Voters in British Columbia will have one last day to cast their ballots for a new provincial government in the 2026 snap election.
Saturday, Oct. 24 is the last in-person polling day following a week of early voting. Five parties are vying for the premiership and seats in the B.C. legislature, including incumbent premier David Eby of the B.C. New Democratic Party (NDP).
Still haven’t decided on who should receive your vote? Here’s where each party stands on six key issues: housing, cost of living, environment and energy, education, drug policy, and public safety.
Housing
B.C. Green
- The provincial Green Party wants to restart the Community Housing Fund and Indigenous Housing Fund, aiming to build and protect 26,000 housing units a year.
- The Greens also want to tie rent increases to a unit instead of a tenant. This means landlords will no longer be able to jack up the rent after a tenant leaves a unit and reduce incentives to evict tenants without fault.
- The party also wants to end blanket pet bans in rental units and develop management guidelines for pets in rentals instead.
B.C. NDP
- The provincial NDP wants to increase the speculation (buying housing solely for profit) and vacancy tax from one per cent to two per cent for domestic homeowners’ secondary properties, and from four per cent to five per cent for foreign homeowners.
- They aim to introduce a 30-day permit for small builds of six homes or less in big municipalities, with $5 million in yearly funding for municipalities to meet it.
CentreBC
- The CentreBC party wants to raise the renters tax credit from $400 to $600 a year, adjusted to inflation to help preserve its value over time.
- CentreBC also wants to reduce how much income households need to make to get the full renter’s tax credit, down to $66,000 from $80,000
- The party also has a goal of creating 5,000 pre-fabricated and BC-made mass-timber homes a year by 2030.
B.C. Conservatives
- The B.C. Conservative party aims to cut construction taxes and charges, and approve homes in months, instead of years.
- The party also wants to keep the foreign buyers tax and the speculation and vacancy tax in place.
- They also aim to work with municipalities to amend zoning laws to better match the community, in hopes of putting family homes on the housing market faster.
OneBC
- The OneBC party wants to end municipal rent control programs in order to incentivize new developments.
- The party also has plans to eliminate the Step Code standard that sets energy-efficient requirements for new builds
Cost of living
B.C. Green
- The B.C. Green party has plans to create a network of public grocery stores by investing $100 million in upfront establishment costs and by selling fresh B.C. produce and staple products at affordable prices (30 per cent below market prices).
- Amend the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) legislation, requiring all reasonable car accident-related costs to be covered.
- Raise social and disability assistance to the market measure of poverty, and adjust them to inflation. For a family of two adults with one or more child(ren), the social and disability assistance will be raised to $4,535 a month.
B.C. NDP
- The B.C. NDP aims to freeze basic ICBC rates for three more years until spring 2030, extending the freeze that has been in place since 2020.
- The NDP also wants to ban ticket scalping, restricting ticket resales to face value only. Sellers who violate this policy will face penalties.
- They also promise to prohibit surveillance pricing and ban real estate controls that block competition between grocery stores.
CentreBC
- The CentreBC party promises to keep basic ICBC rates at or below inflation through 2030.
- The party also aims to cap BC Hydro residential rate increases at the inflation rate, and will also be capped at a maximum of three per cent a year from 2027 to 2030.
- CentreBC will also re-examine the eligibility criteria for the Children and Youth Disability Benefit and the Youth Disability Supplement so more families can receive funding.
B.C. Conservatives
- The B.C. Conservatives aim to increase disability assistance by $100 per month with yearly reviews, and raise the single person income exemption to $30,000. Currently, a single person earnings exemption is $16,200.
- The party also promises to expand consumer choice, expanding car insurance competition, so drivers can choose to stay with the publicly owned ICBC or move to a private company.
OneBC
- The OneBC party promises to phase out the ICBC insurance monopoly and no-fault insurance, which lets injured motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians receive medical care, regardless of who caused the accident.
Environment and energy
B.C. Green
- The B.C. Green party aims to reduce emissions caused by building and development by promoting conservation efforts, efficiency, and lower-carbon design and materials.
- The party wants to set a target for electricity to power at least 35 per cent of the province’s total energy needs by 2035.
- The Greens also aim to raise provincial parks, recreation sites, and trails funding by 50 per cent to $114 million.
B.C. NDP
- The B.C. NDP promises to invest more money, $4 million annually, in the Youth Climate Corps, giving young people aged 17 to 30 more paid jobs in climate resilience, ecosystem restoration, and renewable energy.
- The NDP also aims to cut methane emissions by 75 per cent by 2030, with a 50 per cent reduction by 2028.
- They also plan on partnering with Prime Minister Mark Carney on the “30 by 30” nature protection, aiming to protect 30 per cent of B.C. land by 2030.
CentreBC
- The CentreBC party plans to back liquified natural gas (LNG) projects with the support of First Nations and Indigenous partners, along with a proven plan to be net-zero ready.
- The party promises to keep charging carbon pricing to companies that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases, with none of the tax being passed on to consumers.
- CentreBC also wants to add 1500 electrical vehicle charging ports and give tenants the right to add a charging station.
B.C. Conservatives
- The B.C. Conservative party wants to give consumers more choice in the car market by ending the zero-emission vehicle sales quota.
- The Conservatives aim to double national gas production by 2032 and triple it by 2035.
- They also plan to back B.C.’s natural gas and LNG industries, but also expand domestic electricity supply.
OneBC
- OneBC wants to approve a pipeline to the Port of Prince Rupert or Kitimat in order to export Canadian energy.
Education and childcare
B.C. Green
- The B.C. Green party aims to promote skilled trades for young people by collaborating with the Construction Association and making sure training programs have affordable tuition.
- The Greens promise to lift the freeze on $10-a-day child care, making it available to all families across the province.
- They also want to give pensions and improved job security to early childhood educators.
B.C. NDP
- The B.C. NDP promises to invest an extra $250 million in universal child care expansion in collaboration with the federal government.
- The NDP aims to add 7,200 before-and-after school spaces on school grounds, which will give more families access to seamless child care in places they know and trust.
- They also want to improve working conditions and wages for early childhood educators.
CentreBC
- The CentreBC party promises to add 20,000 $10-a-day childcare spaces by 2030, starting in communities facing long waitlists.
- CentreBC also promises to increase school capacities by 25,000 seats. The party will start in the fastest-growing districts and in areas with the most temporary structures.
- The party also plans to have students in Grades 4 and 7 take standardized “Foundation Skills” assessments.
B.C. Conservatives
- The B.C. Conservative party promises to make independent child care providers for $10-a-day care.
- The party aims to create 24-hour child care spaces for parents who work unpredictable hours/shift work and first responders.
- The Conservatives also plan to bring back letter grades for Grades 4 to 9.
- They also want to repeal SOGI-123, an education resource to help kindergarten, elementary school, and high school educators make schools safer and more supportive of students with differing sexual orientations and gender identities.
OneBC
- The OneBC party plans to repeal SOGI-123 and “politicized content” from classrooms.
- OneBC wants to institute a Parental Bill of Rights that gives parents consent and transparency into their under-18 students.
- They also want to ban the teaching of gender identity in K-12 schools.
Drug Policy
B.C. Green
- The B.C. Green party plans to provide regulated pharmaceutical alternatives to street drugs to reduce overdose deaths.
- The Greens also want to increase access to supervised consumption sites and overdose prevention sites, as well as decriminalize the possession of drugs for personal use.
B.C. NDP
- The B.C. NDP plans to invest up to $90 million to establish involuntary care for the Okanagan, Surrey, and Vancouver Island.
CentreBC
- The CentreBC party aims to add 150 more detox beds, and 500 more treatment and recovery beds. The party also aims to make these beds free to those who need them.
- CentreBC also plans to offer voluntary addiction treatment and counselling in every provincial correction centre by 2029.
B.C. Conservatives
- The B.C. Conservative party plans to restore an evidence-based approach to dealing with addiction that’s focused on prevention, treatment, and recovery.
- The Conservatives also plan on ending “safe supply” and redirecting the funding to prevention, treatment, and recovery.
OneBC
- The OneBC party wants to end safe supply and drug consumption programs, and also cancel all new safe drug consumption sites.
- OneBC plans to provide involuntary drug rehab and housing to those severely addicted to drugs.
Public Safety
B.C. Green
- The B.C. Green party wants to disband the RCMP’s Critical Response Unit
- The Greens also plan to commission an independent review of prison conditions and involuntary treatment programs.
B.C. NDP
- The B.C. NDP plans to hire 50 more Crown prosecutors, with a special unit focused on extortion, racketeering, and gang violence.
- The NDP aims to handle repeat violent offenders and repeated property crime by doubling funding for the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative (ReVOII) and Chronic Property Offending Intervention Initiative (C-POII).
- They also plan to train new police officers faster by working with the RCMP and Justice Institute of BC.
CentreBC
- The CentreBC party plans to hire 100 more provincial RCMP officers a year for the next five years and keep police vacancies low.
- CentreBC also aims to add 60 more Crown prosecutors by 2030/2031.
B.C. Conservatives
- The B.C. Conservative party plans on adding 1,000 new law enforcement officers, such as police, prosecutors, sheriffs, judges, and support staff.
- The party also plans on increasing peace officers to enforce street crime, organized gangs, and money laundering law.
- They also want to hire 50 new Crown prosecutors.
OneBC
- The OneBC party wants to keep the provincial government from opting into federal buy-back firearm programs.
- The party also wants to provide legal representation to gun owners who feel their firearm rights are being violated by the federal government.
- They also plan to work with municipalities on more street patrols.
