B.C.’s Budget aims to keep people at work in construction sector

British Columbia also has a new budget, delivered March 2 by Finance Minister Colin Hansen.
The budget promised to build on the momentum of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, but the lion’s share of funds go not to construction, but to health care and education services. Over 40% of the expenditures over the next three years will go to the health services sector. Still the B.C. government continues to invest in the construction of highways, schools, bridges hospitals and other infrastructure. Capital spending is expected to total $20.7 billion, a figure it says is an elevated forecast to stimulate the economy and “keep people at work in the construction sector.”
British Columbia has also committed $100 million to developments for climate action and clean energy.
The budget paper listed many specific construction projects receiving funding, which included the Northwest Transmission Line, upgrades to the Royal BC Museum, air tanker bases in Castlegar and Williams Lake, and the McKenzie Connector.
The largest capital projects include:

$302 million for school replacement projects in Chilliwack, Alberni, Revelstoke, Coquitlam and Burnaby;
$133 million for the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Centre for Drug Research and Development at University of B.C.;
$2.3 billion is for upgrading health facilities throughout the province. These include the Surrey Outpatient Facility and Surrey Memorial Hospital Critical Care Tower, the Royal Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre in Victoria, and the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre in Kelowna;
$5.8 billion for transportation projects such as the Pitt River Bridge, South Fraser Perimeter road, Sea-to-Sky Highway, Sierra Yoyo Dsan Road Upgrade and the Port Mann Bridge project;
Over $3 billion for projects for BC Hydro and BC Transmission Corporation. They include the Ruskin Dam safety and powerhouse upgrade, Dawson Creek area reinforcement, and Seymour Arm series capacitor installation.