Lək̓ʔəŋən [LEKWUNGEN] TERRITORY / VICTORIA, B.C. — BC Greens Leader Emily Lowan, candidate for Saanich North and the Islands, today unveiled the Fair Share Act, a plan to require British Columbians whose wealth is more than $50 million to pay their fair share. The Act is estimated to raise $22.2 billion in its first year and $5.4 billion every year after that. This revenue can help fund universal childcare, free public transit, and housing people can afford.
“Families and workers across BC keep hearing the same answer from this government: the money isn’t there,” said Lowan. “But the cupboard isn’t bare, the government just hasn’t looked in the multi-car garages. The money exists in this province. It sits with the people who make more in their sleep than a worker makes in a year. We just haven’t had a government with the political will to ask for it.”
Canadian household wealth grew by more than $1 trillion in 2025, largely because of appreciating financial assets. The wealthiest 1 per cent of families now hold almost a quarter of the country’s net wealth.
Emma Davis, board member of Patriotic Millionaires Canada and B.C. resident stated: “I don’t want to watch my wealth grow endlessly while my friends and neighbors struggle to survive. A wealth tax on the ultra-rich is a great way to start building a better B.C.”
“Unlike Premier Eby’s tax, which focuses on the income of those earning more than $190k, we are looking at the wealth of households with over $50 million,” said Lowan. “It targets what the ultra-wealthy own, not what they’re paid, because massive fortunes don’t grow through wages, they grow through untaxed stocks and real estate. It also raises far more: an estimated $22.2 billion in its first year, compared with roughly $225 million from the Premier’s plan. That’s 98 times more—enough to make sure the services people count on, and the workers who deliver them, aren’t left out to dry.”
“The Fair Share Act fixes the tax loopholes that the ultra-wealthy exploit,” said Lowan. “Nurses, teachers, and tradespeople already pay their share. Asking someone with multiple homes and massive stock portfolios to give a sliver of their wealth to ensure British Columbians can live an affordable, safe, dignified life is what fairness looks like.”
The BC Greens will:
- Introduce a one-time Fair Share tax on extreme wealth, beginning at 5% on net wealth above $50 million, 10% above $100 million, and 20% above $1 billion. This is estimated to raise approximately $22.2 billion after accounting for administrative costs and behavioural responses.
- Establish an ongoing annual tax on extreme wealth, beginning 2% on net wealth above $50 million, 3% above $100 million, and 5% above $1 billion. This is estimated to generate approximately $5.4 billion each year.
- Work with the federal government to close tax loopholes and strengthen enforcement against tax avoidance, so that very wealthy individuals cannot use complex financial arrangements to avoid paying their fair share.
- With this proposal raising $22.2 billion in the first year, and $5.4 billion in subsequent years, British Columbians can benefit from universal childcare, free public transit and properly funded affordable housing, while also reducing provincial debt and the interest costs that come with it.
Please find the Fair Share Act policy brief below.
-30-
Media contact
Prym Goodacre, Media & Campaigns Officer
+778 650 0597
newsroom@bcgreens.ca
The BC Greens believe that working people should not be asked to carry more of the burden while a small number of the ultra-wealthy are able to structure their finances to pay far less than their fair share. Those who have benefited most from our economy have a responsibility to pay their fair share back into the communities that made that success possible just like everyone else.
Most British Columbians contribute to society through taxes on their income. But for the very wealthy, much of their economic gain comes from rising values of shares, businesses, real estate, and other assets rather than a paycheque. This allows enormous fortunes to grow in ways that are treated very differently by our tax system than ordinary employment income.
The BC Greens will introduce the Fair Share Act to ensure that people with more than $50 million in net wealth contribute their fair share. The Act will establish a one-time tax on extreme wealth, followed by a smaller annual wealth tax. It will affect only a very small number of the wealthiest households in British Columbia and would not increase taxes on ordinary British Columbians; instead it will provide much needed revenue to support community services, reduce costs for British Columbians, or help us shrink the deficit.
Canadian household wealth grew by more than $1 trillion in 2025, largely because of appreciating financial assets, and the wealthiest 1 per cent of families own almost a quarter of the country’s net wealth. British Columbia is a wealthy province, but an increasing share of that prosperity is concentrated among those who already have the most. Yet British Columbians are still being asked to make do with underfunded health care, education and public services while the public is told we don’t have the resources to invest in the housing, infrastructure and economy that our future depends on. Cutting services, running ever-larger deficits, or asking ordinary British Columbians to pay more are not the only choices before us.
Paying tax is part of the shared responsibility. The infrastructure we build together, an educated and healthy workforce, strong public institutions and thriving communities all help create the conditions in which wealth can be built. Those who have accumulated extraordinary wealth have benefited enormously from these foundations, but our tax system does not currently require them to contribute their fair share toward maintaining them. The Fair Share Act would help to ensure that those who have benefited most from our economy contribute their fair share to building its future.
The BC Greens will:
- Introduce a one-time Fair Share tax on extreme wealth, beginning at 5% on net wealth above $50 million, 10% above $100 million, and 20% above $1 billion. This is estimated to raise approximately $22.2 billion after accounting for administrative costs and behavioural responses.
- Establish an ongoing annual tax on extreme wealth, beginning 2% on net wealth above $50 million, 3% above $100 million, and 5% above $1 billion. This is estimated to generate approximately $5.4 billion each year.
- Work with the federal government to close tax loopholes and strengthen enforcement against tax avoidance, so that very wealthy individuals cannot use complex financial arrangements to avoid paying their fair share.
- With this proposal raising $22.2 billion in the first year, and $5.4 billion in subsequent years, British Columbians can benefit from universal childcare, free public transit and properly funded affordable housing, while also reducing provincial debt and the interest costs that come with it.