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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

How’s the BC economy holding up in the face of the Trump trade war? (Cdn Centre for Policy Alternatives)

President Trump’s tariff and trade policies dominated the world’s political discourse through 2025. In a recent article,Stuart Trew and I reviewed the different tariffs and overall state of play for Canada. This post takes a closer look at the latest numbers on BC exports and the BC government’s response so far. While the initial shock wave has passed, we can start to see some of the results, although there’s still a lot of uncertainty heading into 2026.

The good news is that the BC economy has been fairly resilient through 2025. As of November 2025, the provincial unemployment rate sits at 6.5 per cent and employment growth has been sluggish but positive with 1.4 per cent more jobs than a year earlier. Reduced population growth to near zero due to immigration restrictions is also a factor that is also slowing the economy relative to past years. 

A key lesson from 2025 for BC’s diverse trade mix in terms of export markets and commodities has provided some degree of resilience in the face of the Trump tariffs. However, the BC government’s current industrial strategy to counter the US tariffs is misguided. With a massive stockpile of resources, BC is seeking to bypass regulatory reviews to advance environmentally-destructive oil and gas and mining projects, climate action be damned ...

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