British Columbia

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of British Columbia}}
[[File:Canada Place with Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Masson.jpg|thumb|[[Canada Place]] in Downtown Vancouver]]
[[File:Telus Garden Entrance 201807.jpg|thumb|Entrance to [[Telus Garden]]]]
BC's economy is diverse, with service-producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the province's GDP.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 2014 |title=2014 British Columbia Financial and Economic Review, 74th Edition April 2013 – March 2014 |url=http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/tbs/F&Ereview14.pdf |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312064953/http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/tbs/F%26Ereview14.pdf |archive-date=March 12, 2016 |access-date=March 11, 2016 |publisher=BC Ministry of Finance}}</ref> It is the terminus of two transcontinental railways, and the site of 27 major marine cargo and passenger terminals. Though less than 5 percent of its vast {{convert|944735|km2}} land is [[arable land|arable]], the province is agriculturally rich (particularly in the [[Fraser Valley|Fraser]] and [[Okanagan]] valleys), because of milder weather near the coast and in certain sheltered southern valleys. Its climate encourages [[outdoor recreation]] and [[tourism]], though its economic mainstay has long been [[resource extraction]], principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the province's largest city, serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies. It also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average.<!-- Should the following be in climate subsection? --> While the coast of British Columbia and some valleys in the south-central part of the province have mild weather, the majority of its land mass experiences a cold-winter-temperate climate similar to the rest of Canada. The [[Interior of British Columbia|Northern Interior]] region has a [[subarctic climate]] with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, with nighttime January temperatures averaging above the freezing point.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 31, 2011 |title=Canadian climate normals 1981–2010 Vancouver International Airport |url=http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?stnID=889&lang=e&StationName=Vancouver&SearchType=Contains&stnNameSubmit=go&dCode=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518084829/http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?stnID=889&lang=e&StationName=Vancouver&SearchType=Contains&stnNameSubmit=go&dCode=1 |archive-date=May 18, 2015 |access-date=October 3, 2015 |publisher=[[Environment Canada]]}}</ref>

British Columbia has a history of being a resource dominated economy, centred on the forestry industry but also with fluctuating importance in mining. Employment in the resource sector has fallen steadily as a percentage of employment, and new jobs are mostly in the construction and retail/service sectors. It now has the highest percentage of service industry jobs in the west, constituting 72 percent of industry (compared to 60 percent Western Canadian average).<ref>{{cite book |last=Roach |first=Robert |url=http://cwf.ca/pdf-docs/publications/StateWest2010_Chapter_9.pdf |title=State of the West 2010 {{!}} Western Canadian Demographic and Economic Trends |publisher=[[Canada West Foundation]] |year=2010 |pages=103–109 |chapter=Economic output in the West |access-date=September 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812195015/http://cwf.ca/pdf-docs/publications/StateWest2010_Chapter_9.pdf |archive-date=August 12, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The largest section of this employment is in finance, insurance, real estate and corporate management; however, many areas outside of metropolitan areas are still heavily reliant on resource extraction. With its film industry known as [[Hollywood North]], the Vancouver region is the third-largest feature film production location in North America, after [[Los Angeles]] and [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vancouvereconomic.com/key_sectors/film_tv.htm |title=Film and TV |year=2005 |publisher=Vancouver Economic Development |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101014505/http://vancouvereconomic.com/key_sectors/film_tv.htm |archive-date=January 1, 2007 |access-date=April 26, 2007}}</ref>

The economic history of British Columbia is replete with tales of [[Business cycle|dramatic upswings and downswings]], and this [[boom and bust]] pattern has influenced the politics, culture and business climate of the province. Economic activity related to mining in particular has widely fluctuated with changes in commodity prices over time, with documented costs to community health.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2005/05oct06/mining.html |title=Hard on Health of Mining Communities |last=Thomson |first=Hilary |date=October 6, 2005 |publisher=University of British Columbia |issue=10 |volume=51 |access-date=April 26, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415163741/http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2005/05oct06/mining.html |archive-date=April 15, 2007}}</ref>

In 2020, British Columbia had the third-largest GDP in Canada, with a GDP of $309 billion and a GDP per capita of $60,090.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 30, 2018 |title=Add/Remove data – Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, provincial and territorial, annual |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3610022201 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209181508/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3610022201 |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |access-date=September 19, 2019 |publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=2020 Sub-Provincial Population Estimates Highlights |url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/data/statistics/people-population-community/population/pop_sub-provincial_population_highlights.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/data/statistics/people-population-community/population/pop_sub-provincial_population_highlights.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |publisher=Government of BC}}</ref> British Columbia's [[debt-to-GDP ratio]] is edging up to 15.0 percent in [[fiscal year]] 2019–20, and it is expected to reach 16.1 percent by 2021–22.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lovely |first1=Warren |last2=Maltais |first2=Catherine |date=February 19, 2019 |title=British Columbia 2019 Budget |url=https://www.nbc.ca/content/dam/bnc/en/rates-and-analysis/economic-analysis/british-columbia-budget.pdf#targetText=Total%20taxpayer%2Dsupported%20debt%20looks,eliminated%20as%20of%202018%2D19.&targetText=Taxpayer%2Dsupported%20debt%20is%20projected,16.1%25%20by%202021%2D22. |url-status=deviated |journal=National Bank of Canada Financial Markets |pages=1–3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224035120/https://www.nbc.ca/content/dam/bnc/en/rates-and-analysis/economic-analysis/british-columbia-budget.pdf#targetText=Total%20taxpayer%2Dsupported%20debt%20looks,eliminated%20as%20of%202018%2D19.&targetText=Taxpayer%2Dsupported%20debt%20is%20projected,16.1%25%20by%202021%2D22. |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |access-date=September 19, 2019 |via=National Bank of Canada}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=http://www.rbc.com/economics/economic-reports/pdf/canadian-fiscal/prov_fiscal.pdf |title=Canadian Federal and Provincial Fiscal Tables |date=January 14, 2020 |website=Economic Reports |publisher=Royal Bank of Canada |access-date=January 18, 2020 |archive-date=February 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205160447/http://www.rbc.com/economics/economic-reports/pdf/canadian-fiscal/prov_fiscal.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> British Columbia's economy experienced strong growth in recent years with a total growth rate of 9.6% from 2017 to 2021, a growth rate that was second in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 14, 2012 |title=Gross domestic product (GDP) at basic prices, by industry, provinces and territories, growth rates |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610040202 |access-date=July 21, 2022 |publisher=[[Statistics Canada]]}}</ref>