B.C.’s 2025 budget includes funding for community safety, police training

Amid a budget largely focused on addressing newly implemented U.S. tariffs, the B.C. government also announced $235 million in new investments over three years for justice and public safety programs.

The budget earmarks $67 million for community safety programs, including a pilot project — the Community Safety and Targeted Enforcement Program — which is intended to address robbery, shoplifting, and property crimes.

The Justice Institute of B.C. will receive expanded funding to increase police academy training capacity from 192 to 288 officers per year.

New funding of $24 million will go toward increasing capacity at the BC Supreme Court, boosting security at the Vancouver Provincial Court, and expanding virtual bail to allow bail hearings to take place in all communities across the province.

Over three years, $67 million will go to community safety initiatives, including the Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative and the Special Investigation and Targeted Enforcement Program. These two programs, introduced in 2023, support response teams of police, prosecutors, and probation officers to address violent offenders and provide access to treatments as needed.

A total of $104 million will go toward negotiated wage increases for the provincial RCMP, funding for the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program, and more body-worn cameras for frontline police officers.

In addition, the government says there is also $15 million in new funding for supports for victims, their family members, and witnesses.

$90M budgeted for addressing homelessness

The budget includes $90 million over three years to address homelessness, expanding two programs — the Homeless Encampment Action Response Team and the Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing — into new communities.

The programs involve connecting local governments and First Nations, health-care providers, and non-profit organizations to provide supports including new shelters and housing options. Currently, there are 611 temporary supportive homes or shelter beds across B.C., including in Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford, Campbell River, Chilliwack, Duncan, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, and Prince George. New funding will go towards hundreds more of these units.