B.C. Govt. Workers Earn More Than Private Sector

Commentary
By Grady Munro and Jake Fuss

The British Columbia government is spending its way to a fiscal disaster. Since taking office, the Eby government has increased spending to record levels, ran large budget deficits and racked up debt at an unprecedented pace. And according to the government’s new budget, in 2026/27 it will record a huge projected $13.3 billion deficit and total provincial debt will reach $183.4 billion.

And because multiple rating agencies recently downgraded the government’s credit rating—meaning that lending money to the B.C. government is an increasingly risky proposition—the costs of debt accumulation (i.e. debt interest) will likely continue to rise.

To get out of this hole, the Eby government must address the root cause of this fiscal decline and review all areas of provincial spending, with no exceptions.

According to our recent study, government-sector workers (federal, provincial, local) in B.C. earn 4.4 per cent higher wages, on average, compared to their private-sector counterparts (as of 2024, the latest year of available data). In other words, if you compare two workers who are the same gender, have the same level of education, work in the same industry and occupation, and have the same tenure, the government worker will earn more than 4 per cent more per hour (on average).

Of course, employers compensate employees in other ways—lower wages might be offset by greater job security or by coverage under a registered pension plan. But in 2023 (the latest year of available data), 84.3 per cent of government-sector workers in B.C. were covered by a registered pension plan compared to 15.9 per cent of private-sector workers. Government-sector workers in the province also retire an average of 1.4 years earlier than those in the private sector.

Furthermore, 2.9 per cent of private-sector workers lost their jobs in 2024 compared to 0.4 per cent of government-sector workers. And that same year, government-sector workers took an average of 5.6 more days off due to personal reasons compared to workers in the private sector.

Simply put, governments in B.C.—including the Eby government—pay a premium for their workers. Faced with a looming fiscal crisis of its own making, the Eby government should examine all areas of spending to find savings. Bringing government compensation back in line with the private sector is a good place to start.

Grady Munro is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Fraser Institute. Jake Fuss is Director of Fiscal Studies for the Fraser Institute.