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Recurring talking point

“DRIPA is making British Columbia un-investable.”

Chris Gardner, ICBA
President & CEO, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) · Jan 2026

Fact-checked - verified

BC's own data tells a different story. The BC Major Projects Inventory Q3 2025 lists $344.5 billion in active capital projects across 1,004 projects - 67 of them, worth $101.6 billion, have First Nations as owners or partners. Natural Resources Canada ranked BC third in Canada for mineral exploration spending in 2024. BC's credit ratings (Moody's Aa2, S&P A, DBRS AA, Fitch AA-) remain investment grade; the rating agencies' downgrade rationales cite provincial deficit and debt growth, not DRIPA. The Eby government's March 2025 Mineral Claims Consultation Framework is a targeted fix for mineral staking after the Gitxaała ruling - not a rollback of DRIPA.

Sources

GovGovGovGovCourt|2025 BCCA 430

Full source details

BC Major Projects Inventory - Q3 2025 report ($344.5B across 1,004 projects; 67 projects / $101.6B with Indigenous ownership or partnerships)

Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills · 2025-09-30

Canadian Mineral Exploration - 2025 edition (BC ranked #3 in Canada for mineral exploration spend in 2024)

Natural Resources Canada · 2025-03-01

BC provincial credit ratings - Moody's Aa2, S&P A, DBRS AA, Fitch AA- (rationales cite deficit and debt growth, not DRIPA)

Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Finance · 2026-04-09

New framework introduced for First Nations consultation on mining claims (Mineral Claims Consultation Framework)

Province of British Columbia - news release · 2025-03-26

Gitxaała v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner)

British Columbia Court of Appeal · 2025-12-05[2025 BCCA 430]

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APA
DRIPA Facts. (2026, April 1). BC has $344.5B across 1,004 active projects - $101.6B with First Nations partners. Credit rating agencies cite deficit, not DRIPA. DRIPA Facts. https://dripafacts.ca/en/myth/investment-uncertainty/
Chicago
DRIPA Facts, "BC has $344.5B across 1,004 active projects - $101.6B with First Nations partners. Credit rating agencies cite deficit, not DRIPA," DRIPA Facts, April 1, 2026, https://dripafacts.ca/en/myth/investment-uncertainty/.
MLA
DRIPA Facts. "BC has $344.5B across 1,004 active projects - $101.6B with First Nations partners. Credit rating agencies cite deficit, not DRIPA." DRIPA Facts, 1 Apr. 2026, dripafacts.ca/en/myth/investment-uncertainty.

First published: April 1, 2026