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Benefits of mining in B.C.

Last updated on January 16, 2025

Each year, mining provides significant contributions to the B.C. economy and helps fund public services, for example: 

Mining creates jobs

  • Workers can find good-paying mining jobs in remote communities and urban areas
  • About 40,000 workers are employed in the B.C. mining industry

Mining contributes money to fund public services

  • Contributes $11.2 billion annually to B.C.’s gross domestic product (GDP)
  • Pays $1.1 billion in taxes annually, including over $497 million in mineral taxes to the Province
  • Since 2008, more than $465 million of mineral taxes have been shared with First Nations

B.C.’s critical minerals opportunity

B.C. is rich with the critical minerals needed to build clean technology, like electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, or technology used for aerospace, defence and communications.

B.C.'s critical minerals strategy outlines opportunities for:

  • Investments that lead to sustainable economic and job growth
  • Building partnerships between First Nations, government and industry
  • Moving forward with climate actions and solutions