B.C. deficit forecast to swell to $9.4-billion as fiscal update shows revenues decline

British Columbia’s deficit is forecast to swell to a new high of $9.4-billion dollars, according to the government’s latest update, which showed revenues from the corporate income tax, provincial sales tax, and the natural resource sector have all declined from the budget outlook three months ago.Brenda Bailey delivered her first fiscal update as B.C.‘s new finance minister on Tuesday. After a free-spending year, the provincial government has imposed a hiring freeze in the civil service, but Ms. Bailey could offer no other examples of spending restrictions ahead of the next budget, which will be tabled March 4, 2025.“This hiring freeze is really about us being smart with our internal resources, and as we work on the path to fiscal sustainability, the path to balance,” she told reporters in Victoria.