2026 BC Budget Consultation: Submit Your Ideas

The BC Government 2026 Budget Consultation comment period is open and looking for public input. Here’s how to submit your ideas.

The provincial government of BC is deciding what to spend money on next year (in 2026). As part of that, a government committee (called the “Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services”) is asking the public for their ideas and priorities.

People can submit their ideas for the budget in writing. Then, the Committee will summarize all that feedback in a report, and make their own recommendations. 

While not all of the Committee’s recommendations may make it into the final budget, some of them will, and it’s important for people to share what matters to them. In 2024, DoNoHarm BC’s budget campaign resulted in a commitment of over $3 billion in continued pandemic funding!

How to provide feedback on the BC Government 2026 Budget Consultation:

• Go to https://consultation-portal.leg.bc.ca/ and either log in or create an account. You can do this by clicking “Sign in” or “Register” (in the upper right corner of the screen). They will require a name, email, and phone number.
• Once you’re signed in, scroll down until you find the consultation for “Budget 2026”. Click the words “accepting input”, then scroll down to click the button “make a submission.”
• The one-page feedback form has seven questions. We’ve included some possible answers below, to make it faster to fill out!
• Answers must be submitted by 2:00 pm Pacific Time on Friday, June 20, 2025.
• If you need help making a submission, you can contact the Parliamentary Committees Office at 250-356-2933 or 1-877-428-8337 (toll-free in BC).

Here’s what to expect from the survey:

• They will ask you to give some brief background info about yourself (or your organization, if you belong to one).
• You can give up to 3 recommendations for the budget. You have a short field to enter your recommendation, then a longer one to provide any background info about it.

Template answer ideas:

You can only submit three (3) recommendations. Pick the priorities below that matter most to you, or add your own!

Recommendation 1: 

Main ask – clean air: 

Invest in clean air infrastructure by ensuring new construction is aligned with international air quality standards ASHRAE 241 and 44P; implementing a retrofit program for older buildings; and introducing an indoor air quality monitoring program in indoor public spaces.

 Background info: 

• Ventilation and filtration are among the most cost-effective public health measures, with a benefit-cost ratio of 3:1 to 100:1 (Zafari et al., Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 2022).
• Heat and wildfire smoke both worsen air quality, making clean air measures essential for disaster preparedness and climate resilience.
• Poor air quality contributes to chronic conditions like asthma, and is directly linked to most of Canada’s top causes of death (including heart diseases, cancers, cerebrovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and COVID-19).
• Cleaner indoor air helps reduce the spread of airborne infectious illnesses (which can themselves trigger the development of chronic diseases). Canada is experiencing a 30-year high of measles (exceeding case numbers in the US), plus ongoing spread of other airborne illnesses like COVID-19, pertussis, and influenza (including avian influenza). 
• Studies show poor indoor air quality reduces cognitive performance (Künn et al, Management Science, 2023) and worsens employee retention (US EPA, Evidence from Scientific Literature about Improved Academic Performance, 2023). Illness-related absences can reduce productivity, strain budgets, and jeopardize delivery of essential services.
• ASHRAE, the global HVAC authority, has issued new standards for indoor air quality (ASHRAE 241 and 44P). BC needs to implement these up-to-date standards ASAP. 
• Airborne hazards disproportionately affect marginalized and vulnerable communities, including but not limited to Indigenous and racialized people, elders, disabled people, and children. This makes clean air vital to equity and accessibility.
• There is broad public support for clean air, reflected in the Report on the Budget 2024 Consultation and BC’s proposed Clean Air Act. Other provinces are already taking action: for example, many New Brunswick ministerial mandate letters specifically mention clean air and ASHRAE 241. BC needs to catch up.

Recommendation 2: 

Main ask – vaccination:

Ensure COVID vaccine access and choice, by continuing to fund COVID-19 vaccines every 6 months for all British Columbians who want them; coordinating procurement of a protein-based COVID vaccine option (such as Novavax); and ensuring a timely, widely-publicized rollout each season.

 Background info: 

• Covid vaccines substantially reduce hospitalization and death from COVID-19, but protection wanes within months, making regular boosters essential.
• The average cost of a COVID hospital stay is $24,400 (as per Canadian Institute for Health Information), highlighting the cost-effectiveness of prevention.
• Canada’s Office of the Chief Science Advisor recommends “[making] COVID-19 vaccines available to everyone over six months of age given the evidence that vaccination significantly reduces the development of PCC [Post-Covid condition a.k.a. Long Covid – a disabling long-term condition affecting at least 10-30% of Covid survivors].” 
• BC has significantly reduced or removed many other public health protections for COVID-19, such as mask requirements, vaccine requirements, publicly-accessible PCR testing, access to therapeutics, and a requirement to stay home while sick. This makes it essential to ensure vaccination is accessible to all who want it.
• While mRNA-based vaccine options (like Pfizer and Moderna) are safe and effective for many people, some can only tolerate protein-based vaccines (like Novavax). Access to a protein-based option is key in order to ensure protection of medically-complex community members.
• The Canadian Immunocompromised Advocacy Network has released an open letter calling for Novavax access, signed by many doctors and stakeholders across Canada. British Columbians have sent over 26,000 letters to date calling for Novavax access, as per DoNoHarm BC.
• Some Canadians have been forced to travel to the US and pay out of pocket for Novavax – an increasingly challenging prospect in this international climate. 
• Timely rollout and publicity are key, since NACI notes past vaccine rollouts have been later than corresponding illness waves. Past Novavax availability in BC has been severely delayed, restricted and poorly publicized, reducing uptake, and contributing to perceived lower demand.

Recommendation 3:

Main ask – N95s and tests:

Procure Canadian-made respirators (CAN95 masks) and ensure ongoing public supply of COVID-19 tests, in order to improve emergency preparedness, support ongoing health management of communicable diseases, and secure domestic supply chains through supporting local manufacturers where possible.

 Background info: 

• Respirators (high-filtration masks) are a key protective tool for airborne health hazards, including but not limited to wildfire smoke, dust, mold, and airborne illnesses (as per Government of Canada, BCCDC, CSA and others).
• Wildfire smoke is a serious, increasingly common health hazard. It can cause many short- and long-term health impacts, as well as increasing people’s vulnerability to some infections, like pneumonia or COVID-19.
• Reliable supply of respirators is key for disaster preparedness: from wildfire events, to pandemics, to earthquakes (which can cause dust), to floods (which can cause mold). 
• The LA wildfires provide an example of what happens without sufficient supply of N95s on hand: government was heavily criticized for delays in supplying respirators to those affected. PPE shortages early in the COVID-19 pandemic also highlight the need to secure sufficient supply.
• Respirators are also a key tool for ongoing health management, both for routine use in provincial medical facilities, and to effectively respond to communicable disease outbreaks. 
• Trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada highlight the importance of securing domestic supply chains, and of supporting local manufacturers where possible.
• Testing access also remains essential for ongoing COVID-19 health management, particularly as individuals can be contagious before symptoms appear. Testing allows for timely isolation to help limit spread, and provides diagnostically-relevant information should individuals go on to develop long-term health impacts.
• BC Budget 2024’s 2024/25 – 2026/27 budget and fiscal plan made a clear, three-year commitment to ongoing public health investments including funding for personal protective equipment and testing (page 11). This commitment must be reflected and honoured in our new budget and fiscal plan.

Recommendation 4: 

Note that this recommendation may also be advanced by other organizations or advocates, e.g. those specializing in chronic illness.

Main ask – Long Covid care:

Improve healthcare services and supports for Long COVID, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME or ME/CFS), and other complex, infection-associated chronic diseases by funding care, establishing guidelines, developing appropriate billing codes, and training medical professionals to increase awareness. 

 Background info: 

• Long COVID (sometimes referred to as “Post-Covid Condition”) refers to long-term health impacts following infection by SARS-CoV-2. It is a serious, multisystem condition that often disrupts people’s ability to work, study, and perform activities of daily living.
• Very conservatively, Long Covid affects at least 10% of COVID survivors including children (Davis et al, Nature Review Microbiology, 2023)  with risks that increase with each reinfection (Bowe et al, Nature Medicine, 2022). At least 1 in 9 Canadians have developed Long Covid so far (Statistics Canada).
• Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME or ME/CFS) is also a severe, infection-associated condition, which is often lifelong. It affected over 87,000 British Columbians prior to the pandemic, but research shows nearly half of Long COVID cases meet the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS.
• Care for both conditions is inadequate in BC. In-person Long COVID clinics have closed to public outcry and BC’s Complex Chronic Diseases Program has a years-long waitlist. A 2022 research report from the ME | FM Society of BC found BC’s healthcare situation for ME patients is “dire, alarming and urgent”. Statscan found only 1 in 8 adults who sought healthcare for Long Covid received adequate care.
• 3 out of 4 people with ME/CFS cannot work, and Canada’s Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada warns Long COVID could cause “profound” disruption to Canada’s labour market. US data shows Long Covid causes an estimated $170-230 billion US in annual lost wages, while economist David Cutler estimates the true economic cost in the trillions.
• The Office of the Chief Science Advisor has clearly recommended improved care pathways, investing in specialized clinics, and training providers to deal with this emerging crisis.
• B.C.’s budget committee has recommended improving care for ME/CFS and other complex chronic illnesses for three years in a row. It’s time to act on those recommendations, and fund the care people urgently need.