BC Government Faces $1.5 Billion Budget Error, Opposition Calls for Investigation

The British Columbia government's latest budget has been marred by a nearly $1.5 billion error in its gas royalty calculations, which could cost the province billions in lost revenue over the next five years.

The Office of the Premier acknowledged the mistake on August 26, hours after Business in Vancouver published an investigation into flawed gas price forecasting in the government's Budget 2026.

The error was first reported by Business in Vancouver, which found that the province had overestimated its royalties from natural gas by $292 million per year over the next five years. This figure is at the low end of the $500-million-per-year overestimation reported by BIV last week.