VICTORIA, B.C.: Conservative Finance Critic Peter Milobar says the NDP government has turned a program designed to protect seniors into what amounts to a government-run loan shark operation.
“The 2026 budget doesn’t just increase the interest rate on property tax deferrals, it changes how interest is calculated, introducing compounded interest that grows faster over time,” said Milobar.
“This program was created so seniors wouldn’t have to sell their homes just to survive,” said Milobar. “Now the NDP is acting like a loan shark, charging higher, compounding interest to seniors who are simply trying to stay in the homes they’ve lived in for decades.”
The property tax deferral program was deliberately designed to allow seniors to age in place without being forced to liquidate their assets. Many seniors who have lived in their homes for 40 or 50 years are asset-rich but cash-poor.
“Living in your home for 50 years doesn’t make you wealthy,” Milobar said. “It means you built your life there. This NDP government seems intent on monetizing that and exploiting seniors it has failed time and time again.”
The changes come as the B.C. Seniors Advocate has warned the province will be short approximately 16,000 long-term care beds by 2036, and just yesterday the government confirmed six long-term care projects will be cancelled.
“Instead of building the long-term care capacity we desperately need, the NDP is cancelling beds while increasing the cost of aging in place,” Milobar said. “At a time where senior’s need safety and security, the NDP is squeezing seniors on fixed incomes while running record deficits and record debt.”
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Media Contact:
Francesca Guetchev, Press Secretary
Francesca.Guetchev@leg.bc.ca
+1 (672) 922-0948
