B.C. budget: Renters’ rebate, welfare boost, expanded tax credits among affordability measures

The NDP government’s long-promised renters’ rebate is set to finally become a reality as part of the 2023-2024 B.C. budget.

The $400 means-tested tax credit, which will take effect in 2024, is among a plethora of new cost-of-living measures released Tuesday as B.C. continues to face its highest inflation rates in a decade.

The measures amount to $4.5 billion in new spending and tax credits over three years, and add to a pair of affordability credits the province rolled out earlier this year, funded from last year’s surprise near-$6-billion surplus.

7:53 Highlights from B.C. budget 2023

4:02 B.C. budget: Province to invest $4.2B for affordable homes for British Columbians

After more than five years of promises, Premier David Eby’s government has finally revealed its plan to offer a rebate to the province’s renters.

Rather than a cash rebate, the measure will be implemented as a tax credit of up to $400 for households earning under $80,000. Residents will need to have lived in their rented residence for at least six months.

Households with adjusted incomes up to $60,000 will be eligible for the full amount, with payouts decreasing based on income up to the $80,000 threshold under the previous tax year.

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The credit is forecast to cost $307 million this fiscal year.

For the first time in a decade and a half, British Columbia is raising the “shelter” component of its income assistance and disability rates.

The shelter rate, which is meant to cover the shelter needs of people on social assistance, has been $375 since 2007, and will now climb to $500.

A single person on income assistance will now receive $1,060 per month, while a single person on disability assistance will receive $1,510 per month.

0:57 BC Greens push premier to make life more affordable for persons living with disabilities

The province estimates the $558 million in additional funds over three years will flow to about 161,000 people.

The budget is also raising the earnings exemption for people on income assistance by $100 per month and for people on disability assistance by $1,200 per year.

The change will increase the amount a person on social assistance can earn without seeing clawbacks to their government cheques.

The 2023-2024 budget set aside funding to make B.C. the first province in Canada to make prescription contraception free for women and transgender and non-binary people.

The program is anticipated to cost $119 million over three years, and will take effect on April 1.

It will cover prescription birth control products, copper IUDs and Plan B emergency contraceptives.

2:09 Victoria council calls for funding for all female contraception

With B.C.’s carbon tax set to climb by $15 per tonne on April 1 and reach $170 per tonne by 2030, this year’s budget is also hiking the Climate Action Tax Credit meant to offset it.

Under the changes, a single person eligible for the maximum credit stands to receive $447 this year and a spouse or common-law partner $223.50 – both up from $193.5 last year. The amount per child will go up from $56.50 to $111.50.

Families earning under $60,000 and individuals earning under $43,000 stand to receive more in climate tax credits than they pay in carbon tax on average, according to the province.

The new boosted credit is set to kick in on July 1 and is forecast to cost $412 million this year.

The budget also earmarks $58 million this year for the BC Family Benefit, which is also being expanded.

Families with children will see a 10-per-cent hike to their monthly payments, also starting in July.

Single parents will also be eligible for up to $500 as an annual top-up.