British Columbia: population, economy, jobs, income and prices

British Columbia is a province of Canada, number 3 of 13 by population. British Columbia had an estimated 5,710,598 residents on 1 July 2026, 13.7% of Canada's population of 41,798,407; 3rd largest of 13 provinces and territories. Over the previous 12 months it grew by 8,054 (0.14%), against 0.46% for Canada; 2nd slowest-growing of 13 provinces and territories.

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in British Columbia: The economy of British Columbia (gross domestic product at market prices) was worth $429.1 billion in 2024, 13.8% of Canada's $3.11 trillion; 4th largest of 13 provinces and territories. In current prices it was up 3.5% on 2023.
• Health in British Columbia: Life expectancy at birth in British Columbia was 81.98 years in 2022–2024, against 81.65 years for Canada; 3rd highest of 12 provinces and territories with data. Ten years earlier, in 2012–2014, it was 82.59 years (down 0.61 years).
• Education in British Columbia: 64% of adults aged 25 to 64 in British Columbia had a tertiary qualification (a college diploma or university degree) in 2025; tied for 3rd highest of 13 provinces and territories. The Canadian figure was 64%, and the OECD average was 41% in 2023.
• Poverty and living standards in British Columbia: 13.0% of people in British Columbia lived below the Market Basket Measure poverty line, Canada's official poverty line, in 2024; 2nd highest of 13 provinces and territories. The Canadian rate was 11.0%. In 2023 the rate in British Columbia was 12.8%.
• Government budget and revenue in British Columbia: The provincial government of British Columbia took in $79.6 billion of revenue in the 2024/25 fiscal year (Statistics Canada government finance statistics, reference year 2024), or $14,071 per resident; 2nd lowest of 13 provinces and territories per resident. Revenue was $76.3 billion a year earlier.

Official bodies in British Columbia

• Government of British Columbia

How provinces are governed in Canada

Provinces (10) and territories (3). Elected legislatures; the premier is the leader of the majority. Create, merge and set the powers of municipalities; health, education, roads.

Every tier of government in Canada

Other provinces of Canada

• Ontario 16,262,121
• Quebec 9,067,114
• Alberta 5,101,050
• Manitoba 1,517,379
• Saskatchewan 1,278,402
• Nova Scotia 1,103,419
• New Brunswick 883,522
• Newfoundland and Labrador 552,462
• Prince Edward Island 182,989
• Yukon 50,356
• Northwest Territories 45,904
• Nunavut 43,091

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Sources

• Statistics Canada: Table 11-10-0190-01: Market income, government transfers, total income, income tax and after-tax income by economic family type (Canadian Income Survey; Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d77937164295…)
• Council of the Federation (Canada's Premiers): About Canada's Premiers: members of the Council of the Federation, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 2fe198a47f5f…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 18-10-0004-01: Consumer Price Index, monthly, not seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract: all-items, food, shelter, transportation), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a99a4ffcbbea…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 18-10-0005-01: Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 5e17cf9acf05…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 36-10-0222-01: Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, provincial and territorial, annual (x 1,000,000), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 438e0832790b…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 36-10-0711-01: Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, provinces and territories (Web Data Service extract: all industries and sectors), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c16d19ffb999…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 14-10-0287-01: Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract: provinces, 15 years and over), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 4f433c7e7221…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 17-10-0009-01: Population estimates, quarterly, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b50bf05150e4…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 14-10-0223-01: Employment and average weekly earnings (including overtime) for all employees by province and territory, monthly, seasonally adjusted (Web Data Service extract: industrial aggregate excluding unclassified businesses), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fd47541913f5…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0096-01: Health characteristics, annual estimates (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 8bd73f02e063…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0972-01: Health characteristics, two-year period estimates (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 69d18cb0c5d4…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 37-10-0130-01: Educational attainment of the population aged 25 to 64, by age group and gender, Canada, provinces and territories (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 aca527f04949…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0834-01: Food insecurity by economic family type (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 50afb8936fa7…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 10-10-0017-01: Canadian government finance statistics for the provincial and territorial governments (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ced6a105cfe…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 37-10-0221-01: True cohort high school graduation rate, on-time and extended-time graduation rates, by gender (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 266bc0204d0b…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0713-01: Infant deaths and mortality rates, by age group (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 7630920ec549…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 13-10-0114-01: Life expectancy and other elements of the complete life table, three-year estimates, Canada, all provinces except Prince Edward Island (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 04229e3361ab…)
• Statistics Canada: Table 11-10-0135-01: Low income statistics by age, gender and economic family type (Web Data Service extract), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 078bc29ff3ff…)

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