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Your B.C. Government

Interior and Northern Communities

Your B.C. Government is making record investments in infrastructure and economic development to support the continued growth and diversification of the province’s rural and northern communities.

What your B.C. Government is doing for interior and northern communities:

  • The Province has increased funding by more than $2 billion for local governments since 2001.
  • Since 2001, the Province has committed more than $756 million to battle the mountain pine beetle, mitigate future impacts and promote regional economic development within the mountain pine beetle epidemic zone. The Government of Canada has committed $340 million since 2002 to help B.C. reduce the effects of its pine beetle infestation.
  • Your B.C. Government has provided funding for the $185-million Northern Development Initiative Trust, the $50-million Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust, the $50-million Island-Coastal Economic Trust and the $15-million First Nations Benefits Trust.
  • As part of the $129-million Community Development Trust, $26.25 million is going to provide immediate assistance to forest workers through the Job Opportunities Program.
  • That funding includes $2 million in direct assistance to both Mackenzie and Fort St. James, two of the communities in B.C. that are most dependent on forestry.
  • Your B.C. Government has created a Rural Secretariat within the Ministry of Community and Rural Development to help local governments apply for provincial and federal infrastructure programs, diversify regional economies, and enhance response to opportunities and urgent needs for communities.
  • The Towns for Tomorrow budget to has been increased to $71 million over five years. The program allows smaller communities to access provincial funds for infrastructure projects.
  • Your B.C. Government has invested $30 million in the $170-million Phase I expansion and containerization of the Port of Prince Rupert to increase trade with Asia. 
  • The Province is now pursuing Phase II, which is a $650-million expansion of the Port of Prince Rupert.
  • A BC-CN Rail partnership has made possible the Chicago Express service from Prince George, a new state-of-the-art wheel shop in Prince George, and a $20-million intermodal facility in Prince George.
  • Airports have been expanded in Prince George, Terrace/Kitimat, Cranbrook and Fort St. John. The Province currently has projects underway at the following airports: Castlegar, Kamloops, Kelowna, Merritt, Princeton, Smithers and Vanderhoof.
  • Your B.C. Government will work with the Union of B.C. Municipalities executive to find ways to manage the costs and benefits associated with resource roads across the province so they meet the needs of communities and industrial users.
  • The Province will create a task force composed of representatives from remote communities and farmers to develop strategies to get fresh food grown in B.C. to remote communities.
  • Your B.C. Government supports the designation of Wells Gray Park as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • Incentive programs are in place to attract physicians to family practice and rural communities.
  • Your B.C. Government is expanding the medical Travel Assistance Program, and creating the B.C. Family Residence Program to help provide accommodation for family members travelling with their kids for treatment at B.C. Children’s Hospital.
  • Your B.C. Government permanently removed the tolls on the Coquihalla Highway on Sept. 26, 2008, saving travellers time and money. A passenger vehicle making a round trip twice a month will save $480 a year, and a commercial truck making a round trip once a week will save $4,800 a year.
  • The Province has more than doubled the budget for tourism marketing, development and research from $25 million in 2001 to $65 million in 2008-09.
  • The Province invested $8 million in the construction of six new Provincial Gateway Visitor Centres strategically located across B.C. where most visitors enter the province, including locations in Mt. Robson Provincial Park, Osoyoos, Golden and Coquihalla in Merritt.
  • Budget 2008 extended film production credits to all regions to encourage pan-provincial TV and film production.
  • Your B.C. Government will leverage its procurement policies to extend cell phone and ‘last mile’ Internet service directly to remote homes and businesses.
  • The Province established the B.C. Student Loan Forgiveness Program, which forgives 100 per cent of a student’s loan over three years for working in underserved communities in rural and northern B.C.
  • Government introduced the Electoral Districts Act 2008, which preserves rural representation in the 2009 election while increasing B.C.’s electoral districts to 85, up from 79 seats.
  • Your B.C. Government is providing $37 million for Geoscience BC to explore for oil and gas and mineral deposits in new basins and mountain Pine Beetle-impacted areas.
  • The Province is working with industry to develop a new Northern Energy corridor that has the potential to bring billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs to the North.
  • Your B.C. Government is providing $25 million to establish and enhance B.C.'s Bioenergy Network.
  • To support the production of liquid biofuels with demonstrated low greenhouse gas emissions from biomass available in British Columbia, government is investing almost $8 million.
  • The second round of $25-million in funding from the Innovative Clean Energy fund has been directed to projects in rural communities.
  • The new Agriculture Plan lays out 68 actions to enhance local food production, help address climate change, enhance profitability of farming, build First Nations capacity and increase awareness of the value of agriculture. The plan comes with $16.8 million in funding to meet those objectives.
  • The environmental assessment review process, including consultations with the public and First Nations, on the proposed Northwest Transmission Line Project along Highway 37 is underway. The proposed power line has the potential to generate or support billions of dollars in capital investment, create thousands of new jobs, open economic opportunities on a global scale in the Northwest, and get remote communities off diesel-electric power.
For More Information:
Northern Development Initiative Trust
Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust
Community Development Trust Fund
BC Bioenergy Strategy
Island-Coastal Economic Trust
B.C. Agriculture Plan
Geoscience BC
Tourism BC