What the Province controls – Joachim Agou, Victoria

Before making promises, we should be honest about what the Province of British Columbia actually controls. Some of what frustrates you belongs to Ottawa: the Criminal Code, bail rules, immigration numbers, interest rates. Some belongs to your city or the regional district: zoning, local roads, garbage pickup, the property tax rate. The Province sits between the two, and it runs more of your daily life than most people realize. Your hospital, your kids' school, your driver's licence, your rent rules, your Hydro bill and the rulebook every city in BC has to follow all come from the Legislature.

We'll push Ottawa hard where the law is theirs, and we'll respect what councils are elected to do. But we won't promise what isn't ours to deliver.

One thing to clear up first. In BC, "Victoria" can mean the provincial government or the city. On this page, "the Province" means the BC government and "the City" means City Hall.

Province of BC controls

The Province writes the laws that run most of daily life in BC. Here's the list, in plain words.

Health. Hospitals and emergency rooms, family doctors and MSP, Island Health and the other health authorities, ambulances (BC Emergency Health Services), long-term care and seniors' care, mental health and addiction treatment, and involuntary care under the Mental Health Act.
Schools. K-12 curriculum, school districts and their budgets, teachers' contracts, colleges and universities, student loans, and childcare licensing and funding.
Courts and policing. Provincial courts, Crown prosecutors (the BC Prosecution Service handles most Criminal Code cases in BC), BC Corrections for sentences under 2 years, sheriffs, legal aid, the Police Act, the RCMP contract that polices most of the province, and oversight of municipal police departments.
Getting around. Highways, BC Ferries, ICBC, driver's licences and vehicle rules, BC Transit (cost-shared with local governments) and TransLink in Metro Vancouver.
Rent and housing. The Residential Tenancy Act (the annual rent increase cap, evictions, deposits), BC Housing, the BC Building Code, the provincial zoning rules that override city bylaws (small-scale multi-unit housing, transit-oriented areas), the Property Transfer Tax and the Speculation and Vacancy Tax.
Cities and regional districts. The Community Charter and the Local Government Act. The Province created every municipality and regional district. It decides what they can tax and borrow and writes their election rules. It can also override their bylaws, and it did exactly that on zoning in 2023.
Land and energy. Crown land (about 94% of BC), forestry, mining, oil and gas permits, BC Hydro rates through the BC Utilities Commission, the Agricultural Land Reserve, provincial parks, wildfire and flood response.
Income support. Income assistance, disability assistance (PWD), child protection and family services (MCFD), seniors' supplements.
Work and business. Minimum wage, employment standards, WorkSafeBC, labour relations for most workplaces, professional regulation (doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, lawyers), liquor and cannabis retail, BCLC gambling, consumer protection.
Provincial taxes. PST, provincial income tax (Ottawa collects it on our behalf), the Employer Health Tax, the school tax line on your property bill, fuel taxes, and carbon pricing on large industry. The consumer carbon tax ended on April 1, 2025.
Elections. Elections BC runs provincial votes, and the Province writes the rules for municipal elections too.

Federal government controls

Ottawa's list is shorter than most people think, but it holds the biggest levers.

Criminal law. The Criminal Code, bail and sentencing rules, drug laws (the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act), firearms law, and parole (in BC, the Parole Board of Canada decides it for all sentences).
Immigration and citizenship. Annual targets, visas, refugees, study and work permits. The Province nominates some economic immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program, but Ottawa sets the numbers and issues the papers.
Money. The Bank of Canada, interest rates, banking rules, the dollar.
Federal benefits. Employment Insurance, Old Age Security, the Canada Pension Plan, the Canada Child Benefit, the GST credit.
Federal taxes. Federal income tax, GST, corporate income tax, tariffs and customs duties.
Transfers to the Province. The Canada Health Transfer, the Canada Social Transfer, infrastructure funds, and housing money through CMHC and programs like the Housing Accelerator Fund.
Borders and beyond. National defence, foreign affairs, trade deals, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Coast Guard, fisheries (DFO), ports and airports, railways, pipelines that cross provincial borders, telecoms and broadcasting (CRTC), Canada Post.
Indigenous affairs. Reserves, the Indian Act, and federal treaty obligations. In BC the Province is at the treaty table too, and it passed its own Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in 2019.
Health Canada. Drug approvals, medical devices, food safety and product recalls.

Cities and regional districts control

Everything on this list is borrowed. Cities and regional districts have no powers of their own. Each one comes from a provincial law, and the Province can change it.

Your city (Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt and the rest). Land use and zoning within the provincial floor, building permits, the property tax rate, bylaws and enforcement, local roads and sidewalks, water and sewer lines, garbage collection, parks and recreation, business licences, fire departments, libraries, heritage designation, and local policing through a police board where the city has its own force (VicPD serves Victoria and Esquimalt).
The Capital Regional District. Regional water supply and treatment, wastewater, solid waste, regional parks, regional housing, 911 dispatch and the regional growth strategy. You pay for these through utility rates and a requisition on your property bill. Victoria elects its CRD directors on the same ballot as council; most other municipalities appoint theirs from council.

What this means in practice: if a council drags its feet on housing or refuses to fund policing, the Province has the tools to act. Whether it should is a political choice, and we'll tell you where we stand on each one.

Shared, or messy in practice

Some of the biggest files don't sit neatly in one box. This is where politicians hide, so here's who holds which end.

Healthcare. The Province runs it. Ottawa pays under a quarter of the bill through the Canada Health Transfer and attaches conditions under the Canada Health Act. When the ER is full, that's a provincial problem with a federal cheque behind it.
Public safety. Ottawa writes the Criminal Code and the bail rules. The Province prosecutes and runs the courts and jails. It also pays for policing in rural areas and small towns, and cities pay for their own officers. A repeat offender back on the street the same day is usually a bail story (federal law) or a court delay story (provincial resources), and often both.
Housing. Ottawa funds. The Province sets tenancy law, the zoning floor and the building code. Cities issue the permits. Nobody gets to blame the others alone.
Addiction and mental health. Drug law is federal. Treatment, detox beds, supportive housing and involuntary care are provincial. The decriminalization pilot that started in 2023 was a federal exemption the Province asked for. It ended on January 31, 2026.
Immigration. Ottawa sets the numbers. The Province pays for the classrooms, hospital beds, roads and housing pressure that follow, and it picks a share of economic immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program.
Childcare. Federal money under the $10-a-day agreement, provincial delivery and licensing.
Indigenous relations. Federal on paper under the Constitution. In practice the Province negotiates BC treaties and manages most Crown land. It also passed its own Declaration Act in 2019.
Climate and environment. Both levels regulate. Industrial carbon pricing in BC is provincial. Environmental assessment of big projects is often both, at the same time.

Whose job is it?

Start with the problem. Here's who actually owns it.

Whose job is it? The problem, whose job it is, and why
The problem	Whose job	Why
12 hours in the ER	Province	Health authorities and hospital budgets are provincial
Can't find a family doctor	Province	Doctor pay and MSP are provincial
Rent went up again	Province	The Residential Tenancy Act sets the cap and the eviction rules
Repeat offender out on bail	Ottawa, then the Province	Bail law is in the Criminal Code; prosecution and courts are provincial
Open drug use on Pandora	Province, with Ottawa	Drug law is federal; treatment, detox, involuntary care and policing are provincial
Potholes on your street	City	Local roads are municipal; a numbered highway is the Province
The bus that never comes	Province and local governments	BC Transit is provincial, cost-shared with the region
BC Ferries fares	Province	Regulated through the BC Ferries Commissioner
ICBC premiums	Province	Crown corporation
Your Hydro bill	Province	BC Hydro rates go through the BC Utilities Commission
Your kid's class size	Province	School district funding and teachers' contracts are provincial
A fourplex going up next door	Province set the floor, City applies it	The 2023 provincial housing laws overrode single-family zoning
Your property tax bill	City, CRD and Province	The City sets the rate; the CRD requisition and the provincial school tax are added on top
Interest rates	Ottawa	Bank of Canada
Immigration numbers	Ottawa	Federal targets; the Province nominates a share
Minimum wage	Province	Employment Standards Act
EI or CPP	Ottawa	Federal programs
Wildfire smoke and evacuations	Province	BC Wildfire Service and provincial emergency management
The rules for this election	Province	Elections BC

What this means for our promises

Every promise on this site says who can actually deliver it.

What this means for our promises
If the issue is	You'll see
Provincial	Exactly what we'll do, by when, and how it's paid for
Federal	What we'll demand from Ottawa and how we'll apply the pressure. We won't pretend a provincial bill can fix it
Municipal	Where we'd change the rules councils work under, and where we'd stay out of their way
Shared	Which end the Province holds, and what we'll do with it

That's how government in BC actually works. It's also how we're asking you to hold us to account.

What the Province actually controls.