A statement by ICBA Chief Economist Jock Finlayson on the 2026 Conservative Party of B.C. platform and costing: "The costed Conservative platform looks reasonable. It is a balanced plan, recognizing that there is much that affects the B.C. economy which is beyond the government’s control.     "The Conservatives intend to take a gradualist approach to deficit reduction, which makes sense given the depth of the fiscal hole Premier Eby has dug and the fragile state of the economy. An important element of fiscal strategy under a new government will be kick-starting the private sector, which has been languishing over the past several years while the broad public sector has continued to expand. The private sector accounts for at least three quarters of all economic activity – including employment – in British Columbia; it also provides the exports and drives the innovation on which living standards partly depend. Under the NDP, the priority has been increasing the size and reach of the public sector, even as large parts of the business community have been struggling or in outright decline.    "A healthier business climate and a stronger private sector economy will help to address B.C.’s difficult fiscal situation by bolstering economic growth and expanding the tax base."

The people who approve your projects just changed. Vancouver: mayor/council shift left. Surrey: McCallum comeback II. Langley: 2 new mayors. PG. Richmond. Delta. New West. Coquitlam. New. New. New. What it means for your next DCC bill and your next permit — today’s show.

Are you better off than you were in 2022? By the numbers, B.C. isn’t. Think of B.C.’s economy as a pie shared by everyone who lives here. In 2024, under David Eby, everyone’s slice got 1.7% smaller, a bigger drop than Canada’s. It still hasn’t grown back to where it was when he took over. A smaller slice means: • Smaller raises on your paycheque. • Fewer good jobs. • Less money for the hospitals and schools we all count on. Now Eby wants voters to keep him on as premier. If this is his idea of a job well done, B.C. can’t afford to give him another mandate. On October 24, vote for a government that will get B.C.’s economy growing again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

David Eby made building homes his top promise. Three years later, B.C.’s construction industry has grown by exactly zero. It didn’t slow down. It just stopped growing. Zero growth means new homes that never got built. It means an apprentice who can’t get the hours to finish her ticket, and a framer who packed up his truck for Alberta. All while rents have skyrocketed. And it’s getting worse. Private investment in new buildings is falling again this year. On October 24, vote for a government that will get B.C. building again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

Today (Saturday, Oct. 17), is municipal voting day across B.C. City halls decide how fast homes, roads and job sites get built. Pick candidates who back builders and a strong local economy. Go vote until 8PM today!

Special edition of Coffee & Construction today as @jordanbateman was live with 400+ construction professionals at this morning's rally in Port Moody for @Conservative_BC leader @LDoerkson. Includes clips of @icbabc President Chris Gardner on the state of the BC economy and industry, and Lorne sharing his vision for the future. Election Day is Oct 24!

Advance voting opens today. B.C.’s lenders have already voted, and they have no confidence in David Eby. Under Eby, S&P has downgraded B.C.’s credit rating four times in four years, and Moody’s took away our top rating. A lower rating is like a lower credit score: it makes borrowing money much more costly. B.C. already pays $14 million a day in interest, heading for $24 million a day. You pay for every dollar of it through your taxes. Advance voting runs October 16 to 21. Vote for a government that will get B.C.’s finances back on track. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

Under David Eby, an average B.C. worker needs more than 12 years just to save a down payment on an average home. And that’s the best case. It assumes prices don’t rise for 12 years. But they will rise. So young people do the math, and too many of them give up. They rent forever, or they pack up and leave B.C. That's a disaster for B.C.'s economy. The only real fix is to build more homes – fast. Eby has done the opposite.  He keeps piling new taxes on homes and the people who build them, while permits crawl and costs climb. He’s putting home ownership out of reach for an entire generation. On October 24, vote for a government that will put home ownership back within reach. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

TRAINING THURSDAY: The most expensive person on your crew isn’t the one you overpaid. It’s the one you hired too fast. Rebecca Wood shows you how to hire right the first time. 🎥 📅 Oct 28, live online icbatraining.arlo.co/w/cours…

Approved in July. Shovel in the ground in October. $2.9 billion. 235 km. 2,000 jobs. And the pipe was full before the paperwork was done. That's what getting to yes looks like. More on today's ICBA Coffee & Construction 👇

Canadian productivity is up 4.5% since 2017. Eight years. That’s it. Canada is now less than 75% as productive as the U.S. — and the gap keeps growing. ICBA Chief Economist Jock Finlayson on why Carney’s “mega-deduction” has a big hole to fill: icba.ca/bc-blog/productivity…

Every day, David Eby’s government pays nearly $14 million in interest on B.C.’s debt. Yes, $14 million. Every single day. None of that money builds hospitals, schools, roads or bridges. In a single year, B.C.’s interest bill could pay for the Burnaby Hospital expansion nearly three times over. Instead, the NDP put that expansion on hold in this year’s budget. And it’s getting worse. Within three years, interest is projected to hit about $24 million a day. That’s what years of record borrowing buys you: bigger bills and less getting built. On October 24, vote for a government that will get B.C. building again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

Under David Eby and the NDP, B.C.’s economy has grown slower than the rest of Canada for the first time in more than 20 years. That didn’t happen by chance: • Taxes keep going up, on businesses and on you. • Permits take far too long. • Construction red tape drives up the cost of everything that gets built. B.C. has become a harder place to build and invest, and the jobs and projects have gone elsewhere. B.C. still has everything it needs to lead again. What it needs now is a government that stops getting in the way. On October 24, vote for a government that will get B.C. building again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

Under the NDP, nearly half of B.C.’s private industries have lost workers since 2019. The NDP calls itself the party of working people. Tell that to the food plant worker whose shift was cut for good. Tell that to the farm family that can’t make the numbers work anymore. Tell that to the log truck driver who pulled up to a mill gate that’s been chained shut. And the NDP let it happen. Their taxes, rising costs and red tape made it harder to keep these jobs in B.C. On October 24, vote for a government that will help B.C. businesses, and the people who work for them, thrive again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

To all of our builders and their friends and family, Happy Thanksgiving! We are grateful for everything you do to build our communities, homes, and infrastructure. Have an amazing day! You deserve it!

David Eby keeps growing government while choking off the businesses and people who pay for it. Government doesn't make its own money. Every dollar comes from your local contractor, the family restaurant on your main street, your mechanic and the people who work for them. Yet the NDP has grown government seven times faster than the economy that pays for it. When the money runs out, you get higher taxes. Local businesses stop growing, families spend less and more people leave for Alberta. That leaves even less money, and the cycle starts again. B.C. can't afford four more years of this. On October 24, vote for a government that will get B.C. building again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

$8 billion for Alberta's military bases. A court challenge against the West Coast pipeline. Same week. A tale of two Canadas. More on today's Coffee and Construction:

The NDP government promised Cowichan Valley families a new hospital for $887 million. The bill is now about $1.45 billion. • That's $559 million more for the same hospital, a 60% jump. • Patients won't walk through its doors until 2027, years later than promised. Yes, prices went up everywhere after COVID. But the NDP made it worse. Their rules limited who could build this hospital, shutting out 85% of B.C.'s construction companies and their skilled workers. Fewer builders competing for the job has turned into higher costs and a longer wait. And Cowichan isn't a one-off. Across B.C., the NDP is borrowing record amounts for projects that keep running late and over budget, you're stuck paying for every dollar of it. On October 24, vote for a government that will get B.C. building again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight

When a worker is struggling, does your super know what to say? 3-hour live workshop, Oct 27. icbatraining.arlo.co/w/cours… More on today's Training Thursday👇

Under David Eby, B.C. has stopped being the place Canadians move to. We used to gain about 20,000 people a year from other provinces. Now it's about 500. Meanwhile, roughly 9,000 more British Columbians a year have moved to Alberta than came back. Under Eby: • Homes are out of reach for too many families, whether they're buying or renting. • Taxes are high, and Eby keeps adding new ones. • Qualified, experienced construction workers can't find enough work, and the NDP's onerous rules shut most of them out of public projects. Every family that leaves takes its paycheque and its skills with it. That means fewer customers for local businesses, fewer coaches and volunteers in our communities, and grandparents who now see their kids a few times a year instead of every Sunday. On October 24, vote for a government that will get B.C. building again. #BCpoli #BCElection #BuildingBCRight