Monday January 4, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, editor | Island Social Trends
Elections BC has issued payments for the 2021 annual allowances for eligible political parties.
Under the Election Act a political party is eligible to receive an annual allowance if, in the most recent general election, its candidates received:
- at least 2% of the total number of valid votes cast in all electoral districts, or
- at least 5% of the total number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts in which the political party endorsed candidates.
Five political parties are eligible to receive annual allowances for 2021.
| Political Party | Annual Allowance |
| BC Green Party | $497,570.50 |
| BC Liberal Party | $1,114,328.25 |
| BC NDP | $1,573,929.00 |
| Conservative | $62,828.50 |
| Rural BC Party | $1,319.50 |
Following the snap election of September/October 2020, for the first time, the BC Conservatives are now getting funds. The public subsidy was put in place when the NDP government eliminated union and corporate donations.
Annual allowances are calculated based on the number of valid votes received in the last general election.
In 2021, the allowance is calculated as $1.75 per vote received in the 2020 Provincial General Election. Annual allowances are paid in two equal installments on January 1 and July 1 of each year. A summary of past annual allowances paid to eligible political parties is available on the Elections BC website at https://elections.bc.ca/provincial-elections/provincial-financing/annual-allowances/.
Political parties that are eligible to receive an annual allowance must file quarterly interim financial reports with Elections BC.
