The provincial government is acting on recommendations put forward by a mining task force created last year with the aim of boosting the mining sector and creating "good jobs".
Premier John Horgan delivered keynote remarks on Monday during the opening ceremony of the annual Association of Mineral Exploration Roundup conference in Vancouver.
He announced the government would make permanent the mining flow-through share tax credit (MFTS) and the BC mining exploration tax credit (METC), which had previously been renewed on an annual basis.
Last year, the federal government committed to a five-year renewal of the METC in its fall economic statement, after almost two decades of calls from industry groups for a multi-year renewal.
The MFTS and the BC METC are critical policy measures to support investment, particularly in the junior exploration sector. The MFTS provides a non-refundable BC income tax credit to individuals who have bought flow-through shares from a BC mining company. The tax credit is worth 20% of mining expenditures that the mining company ‘flows through' or renounces to the individual.
The METC is a refundable BC income tax credit for eligible individuals and corporations conducting grassroots mineral exploration in BC and is worth 20-30% of qualified mining exploration expenditures.
Horgan saw it as a boost to BC's mineral exploration sector that would create more certainty and economic activity to support jobs.
Government has also committed C$1 million to work with industry to develop a road map for mining innovation.
The full implementation plan includes a review of the mining sector's fiscal framework as it relates to the task force's recommendations: the establishment of best practices for mitigating community impacts from mining, the development of a plan to attract and retain women in mining, the development of options for an accessible worker database, the co-ordination of mine-sector branding with CleanBC and reviewing economic partnerships with Indigenous communities.
Another $1 million will go towards the continuation and expansion of the Regional Mining Alliance, which promotes mining industry partnerships with Indigenous communities.
Horgan added that staffing would be increased in the Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Ministry to make processes more efficient and speed up permitting applications.
Horgan said when he launched the taskforce in the spring of 2018, he sensed some apprehension and a feeling of "been there, done that" among industry, but that his government truly wanted to find a new way forward for mining in the province.
Horgan cited Mining Journal's recent World Risk Report 2018 (featuring MineHutte ratings), which ranked BC as the leading Canadian jurisdiction for mining investment.
