B.C. launches $400M fund to directly invest in private projects

Industry leaders say a move to apply the provincial sales tax to a range of services including real estate and accounting will be disastrous for businesses.

British Columbia has launched a $400 million fund to directly invest in private-sector projects or provide them with loans.

Premier David Eby says the B.C. Strategic Investment Fund that was flagged in last week’s provincial budget will allow government to share in the future success of businesses that receive its funding, provided they turn a profit.

The government says the fund is a key part of its Look West strategy that aims to secure $200 billion in new private sector investments over 10 years.

Eby says the fund will allow government to help private companies get projects off the ground, then benefit through profit-sharing agreements and equity stakes.

The government says the fund will be similar to others in Ontario and Quebec, while Eby says it will be a “key tool to attract major international investments” to the province.

These could include projects with military applications, as Canada ramps up defence spending, as well as projects in life sciences and maritime industries.

Speaking at a news conference in Victoria outside a Canadian Coast Guard station on Tuesday, Eby said the fund would put B.C. in a “position to compete for and win” these major investments.

“Today, we are talking about a $400 million fund that is going to anchor major investment in British Columbia and help us participate in the federal government’s commitment to spend five per cent of GDP on defence,” he said.

Jen Riley, the president and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce said in a statement shared by Eby’s office that the group welcomed B.C.’s “commitment to advancing major infrastructure, and strengthening B.C.’s trade and economic capacity.”

The announcement about the fund comes amid lingering criticism of last week’s budget.

It came hours after a coalition of business leaders said the government must scrap a planned expansion of provincial sales tax to a range of professional services, saying it would depress economic growth and send business to other provinces.

Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said the business community was “vehemently opposed” to the PST expansion on services like engineering and geoscience services, because it would raise costs and discourage investment as B.C. faced tariffs and other economic challenges.

Anderson, whose organization gave last week’s B.C. budget a D grading, said the government never discussed the expansion during pre-budget consultations.

She said the government doesn’t have a revenue problem, but a spending problem, in the face of a “skyrocketing deficit” forecast to reach more than $13 billion next fiscal year.

The proposed expansion of the PST is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1 and the government has said it will align B.C. with other jurisdictions.

Eby rejected the demand to scrap the PST expansion.

“We made frankly a difficult decision,” he said. “We don’t want to put additional taxes on anyone. It doesn’t matter whether it’s businesses, individuals or families.”

This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published Feb. 24, 2026.