TOP STORY
B.C. Books a Record Deficit — and Quietly Shelves $4 Billion of Construction
Finance Minister Brenda Bailey closed the books Monday on 2025-26: a $7.7-billion deficit — the largest in B.C. history — presented as progress because the budget had called for $10.9 billion. Two moves did the heavy lifting. The government pulled forward $2.6 billion in one-time tobacco-settlement money it will never see again, and it simply didn’t build: almost $2 billion in hospital projects, $1 billion in transportation and another $1 billion in other infrastructure slid past March 31 — $4 billion, a full quarter of the capital plan, that Bailey calls “slippage.” As the Vancouver Sun’s Vaughn Palmer notes, the minister concedes this year’s deficit is budgeted at $13.3 billion — and the one-time fix this year all but guarantees a worse bottom line next year. For contractors, deferred capital budgets mean delayed tenders, later completions and cost escalation on hospitals, roads and schools B.C. communities are still waiting for. Meanwhile, provincial debt keeps climbing toward $154.7 billion.
THE NUMBERS — STATISTICS CANADA
Retail Commodity Survey, May 2026 — Released Monday. Retail sales rose 4.0% year-over-year to $79.9 billion, but the biggest decline came in hardware, tools and renovation products (-2.4%), with lumber and other renovation materials down 3.5% — more evidence households have shelved renovation plans. Statistics Canada
Leading Indicator of International Arrivals, July 2026 — Released today. International arrivals hit 6.8 million in July, up 6.3% from a year earlier — a bright spot for tourism operators and the hotel and hospitality builders who serve them. Statistics Canada
FROM THE ECONOMISTS
ICBA Economics — Major Projects in Alberta — An Update — Chief Economist Jock Finlayson tallies Alberta’s bulging project inventory: 1,023 projects worth $318 billion, with 120 under construction accounting for $80 billion. The binding constraint is skilled labour — ICBA Alberta is pressing the Danielle Smith government to adopt apprenticeship and training tax credits like those in other Western provinces.
ATB Economics — Gateway to the North — Edmonton’s builders scaled up fast after the region’s population jumped almost 13%, pushing housing starts to records in 2024 and 2025. The warning sign: youth unemployment in the capital region topped 18% in Q2, tied for a post-2011 high outside the pandemic.
WORTH WATCHING
Tariff Deadline — August 19 — Washington’s new 50% tariffs on about 5% of Canadian exports — with cement and other building materials on the list — take effect next Tuesday. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief negotiator Janice Charette are in Washington this week trying to head them off.
Bank of Canada — September 2 — The BoC held at 2.25% on July 15; the next decision lands September 2. Next week’s July inflation report will shape the call — and with it, borrowing costs on every project pro forma in the country.