B.C.’s affordability issues overshadowed by tariffs in federal campaign, say voters​on March 28, 2025 at 1:00 pm

Allison Welters jots down all the recent steps she has taken to save money as the cost of living in B.C. soars.

“It’s a pretty long list of how I’ve changed my behaviour based on what things cost,” said the Maple Ridge mother of a 25-year-old son.

She colours her own hair and returns pop and water bottles for the refunds. She also relies on the GasBuddy website to find the cheapest fuel, only buys used clothing, no longer goes out to restaurants, and reads flyers to find the lowest-priced, Canadian-made groceries. And she avoids using appliances in the early evening, when residential hydro rates are the highest.

“I turn my thermostat down really low and use blankets when I watch TV,” said Welters, who worked in food distribution and sales, and now markets self-care products.

She is doing her part to survive financially in pricey B.C.

So she’d like the party leaders in the federal election to make concrete promises to lower the cost of living, especially in response to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“It’s already expensive enough living here, and I just hope it doesn’t get more expensive,” Welters said. “I think we’re all worried about the effect of the tariffs.”

In a Leger poll released Wednesday, about one third of the 1,599 Canadians surveyed ranked dealing with Trump’s tariffs as their No. 1 election concern, while roughly the same number said it is electing a prime minister who would improve their lives.

However, for residents of B.C., Canada’s most expensive province, improving their lives was the top concern at 36 per cent. Tariffs and strengthening the economy were tied at about 28 per cent.

Mark Carney, the new Liberal leader, will try to keep the campaign’s focus on tariffs and how he’ll guide Canada in the future, rather than addressing the affordability crisis that grew during nearly a decade his party was in power, said UBC political science professor emeritus Richard Johnston.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh will want to highlight the Liberals’ failures, such as “botching” affordable housing, he said. So, those leaders have been campaigning on how their parties would improve voters’ cost of living.

Turning the campaign focus away from tariffs, though, could be like “swimming upstream,” Johnston added, especially if Trump follows through with his threat to impose reciprocal tariffs on April 2.

“It would be good if they talked about (affordability) more. On the other hand, we are faced with an existential threat,” Johnston said.