A new public opinion poll shows that B.C. Premier David Eby and his NDP government have taken a hit from the recent provincial budget.

The poll, from Innovative Research Group, found that this budget was the most unpopular since former premier Gordon Campbell’s budget in 2010.

That was the budget that introduced the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which he did not mention during this re-election campaign.

The poll also found that the February 2026 budget “is the most damaging to NDP government favourability under Premier (David) Eby.

“Among 41% of those who read, saw, or heard (RSH) about the budget, 67% report that it left them less favourable towards the provincial BC NDP government, with net favourability collapsing to -61, a 43-point drop from Mar ’25 (-18). Only 7% feel more favourable,” the key findings read.

The budget also “drives deeply negative expectations” that it “has overtaken all other news about Premier Eby and leaving people feeling worse about him and government,” and “Conservatives have opened a clear lead in B.C. vote intention.”

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Greg Lyle, president of Innovative Research Group, told Global News that reaction to the budget crosses the entire political spectrum.

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“So it’s not like it’s got right-wing people upset, but left-wing people are fine with it, even people that wake up in the morning and feel like New Democrats tell us they don’t like the budget,” he said.

Polling found that of the people who paid attention to the budget, 72 per cent expect higher taxes, more than half say this budget will make health care worse and lead to more unemployment and 70 per cent of respondents think we will be paying more user fees.

Just over half of respondents are now dissatisfied with the provincial government, and 60 per cent say it is time for a change. Twelve per cent of those people are considered strong supporters of the NDP.

“One of the hopeful things for the NDP is, is that there’s a lot of people in that somewhat dissatisfied category, and there’s a lot of people in what we call the time for change New Democrat category,” Lyle added.

“So these are people that say it’s time for changing government in B.C., but also say the NDP are the best of a bad lot.”

Political scientists say governing in this climate is challenging and governments around the world are in the same fiscal situation as B.C.

“If it was just the B.C. government running massive deficits, then we would have to look closely at what they’re doing wrong,” Hamish Telford, a political scientist with the University of the Fraser Valley, said.

“But when we see that Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, the federal government, are all running massive deficits, then we begin to see that this is a structural problem.”

Read the full report here.

This online survey was from Feb. 6 to March 3, conducted using INNOVATIVE’s Canada 20/20 national research panel with additional respondents from Lucid, a leading provider of online samples.

Sample Size: n=991 BC citizens, 18 years or older. The results are nationally weighted to n=700 based on Census data from Statistics Canada.

While vote intention tracking was conducted through the full month of February among n=700 BC residents, budget-related questions were only asked in the second half of the month (February 20 to March 3, 2026). Those results are weighted to n= 500.

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One of the cuts in B.C.’s budget is the merit commissioner position, which oversees hiring practices in B.C.’s Public Service.

When someone is hired in that area, an independent office oversees the hiring to make sure the job was won on merit and not political connections.

The Office of the Merit Commissioner does that by auditing appointments and by reviewing staffing decisions as requested by unsuccessful employee applicants.

However, this year’s budget eliminated that office and transferred its duties to the Public Service Agency.

“They’re overseeing themselves,” Paul Finch, president of the BC General Employees’ Union, told Global News. “I mean it effectively eliminates the audit function.”

The union, which represents tens of thousands of public service workers, says it was not consulted and learned of the change after the budget was released.

Finch said the independent oversight is crucial in today’s economic climate.

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“We’re in a partial hiring freeze, so in these situations where there’s a lot more strenuous competition, it’s more important than ever to ensure these highly sought-after positions are in fact being awarded on merit,” he said.

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B.C. budget features major debt and deficit increases

The opposition is also critical of the move to eliminate the merit commissioner, pointing to last year’s controversial hiring of Michael Bryant.

He was hired to advise on the Downtown Eastside on a six-month contract worth $150,000.

After Global News revealed Bryant’s contract, he was fired.

“Quite troubling that now, when you look at the fact that they’ve got rid of the local auditor general, FOI increases, this is a government that seems allergic to transparency,” Trevor Halford, interim leader of the BC Conservative party, said.

However, B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said the Office of the Merit Commissioner was overseeing the Public Service Agency (PSA) on questions of merit.

“Merit has become such a part of our PSA culture,” she said.

Budget documents show the office costs about $1.7 million a year and the province called the closure an efficiency.

Finch said that while there is a cost savings to eliminate those positions, there seems to be a much higher political cost.

The union is urging the province to reverse course before the budget passes.

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B.C.’s Finance Minister, Brenda Bailey, has delivered the 2026 budget.

Here are five things you need to know.

Bailey has promised there would be years of declining deficits, but first it is projected to spike by a hefty 38 per cent to a record $13.3 billion next fiscal year, compared with an updated forecast for the current year of $9.6 billion.

While the deficit is forecast to increase $3.7 billion year on year, Bailey said a “guiding principle” was that the deficit would decrease “over time,” with the ongoing impact of structural changes such as the tax increase and public sector cuts.

But even that does not change the fact that the deficit remains stubbornly high — under the budget’s three-year plan, it would be $11.4 billion in the 2028 fiscal year.

B.C.’s debt is going to continue to grow, with no cuts in the budget this year.

The cost of servicing programs like child welfare, social assistance, and pharmacare is rapidly escalating.

“The cost to providing care is increasing,” Bailey said in the budget.

“Our government has been working hard to make sure that British Columbians can access the care they need, when they need it. A lot of progress has been made.

“This summer will welcome the very first class of medical students to the new SFU Medical School in Surrey. And in the year ahead, we expect to break ground on the school’s permanent home.”

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Bailey said more British Columbians are getting a family doctor, which is in addition to the hundreds of maintenance and renovation projects to modernize and upgrade hospitals throughout B.C.

“These projects represent the largest investment in health care infrastructure in B.C. history,” she said.

“But we know there is still much more to do. We must remain focused on protecting what we’ve built and delivering better, faster health care for people. This spring, as part of a national pharmacare agreement, B.C. will provide enhanced public coverage for both menopausal hormone therapy and a wide range of diabetes medication and devices. We are also continuing to fund in vitro fertilization treatments so people can start a family.”

Bailey said a comprehensive review of health authorities has identified administration duplication and redirected savings to the front lines of health care. She said that since the review began, 1,100 administrative positions have been eliminated, closed or left vacant, with those savings to be invested in frontline patient care.

B.C. will pace infrastructure projects “carefully,” Bailey said, to deliver them efficiently without driving up costs.

The completion or construction of some long-term care homes will be delayed, along with phase two of Burnaby Hospital.

There are delays to seven long-term care projects from Abbotsford to Fort St. John, as well as the second phase of Burnaby Hospital and Cancer Care, and student housing at the University of Victoria.

“Our priorities are clear,” Bailey said. “Protect and improve core public services that people rely on, like health care and education. Keep B.C., one of the lowest taxed provinces for middle and working class families. Reduce the deficit responsibly over time while protecting what’s working.”

She said three steps will help the province achieve this — make the public sector leaner, pace infrastructure projects carefully and make changes to generate revenue, while taking action to grow the economy and secure the long-term impact of major projects.

Bailey said growth in B.C. has not kept pace with the cost of delivering public services, therefore, the province needs to rebuild a stable and sustainable revenue base.

“People earning under $149,000 will continue to pay the lowest personal income taxes in the country,” she said.

“Budget 2026 includes a change to the first income tax bracket of about half a percentage point. We’ll offset the extra costs for lower-income earners by increasing the B.C. tax reduction credit.

“We’re also updating some household-related taxes, some housing-related taxes; those with homes above $3 million in value will be asked to contribute a little more. The property tax deferment program is being changed to help those who need it most, and the vast majority of homeowners don’t see a change.”

The tax rate on the lowest bracket is being increased by 0.54 per cent, with government staff saying 60 per cent of tax filers will face higher bills, and the average taxpayer will be hit with a $76 hike.

The budget says increasing the bottom tax rate to 5.6 per cent means a maximum impact of $201 on people earning more than $140,000 without additional credits, while credits for some lower earners are being raised.

B.C.’s 2026 budget expands the province’s PST tax base to include professional services, such as accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, geoscientist and engineering services, commercial real-estate fees and security and private investigation services.

Bailey said that this change generally aligns B.C. with how other provinces apply sales taxes to these services.

PST exemptions will also be removed from some goods and services such as clothing repair materials, services related to clothing and footwear, basic cable television and landline telephone services.

Bailey said that expanding the tax to these services is generally consistent with how tax applies to these services in most provinces.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade is giving this budget a ‘D’ rating.

–with files from The Canadian Press

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