[25] The first session of the 42nd parliament began on December 17, 2020, with the speech from the throne delivered by Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin on behalf of Premier Horgan and the BC NDP government.

[27] Bill 5 created the position of the Fairness Officer at ICBC to replace the corporation's Fairness Commissioner; Bill 8 brought the Real Estate Council of BC and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate under the regulatory authority of the BC Financial Services Authority; and Bill 9 amended how local government elections are conducted by regulating activities during a defined pre-campaign period, limiting sponsorship contributions and creating a registry of elector organizations.

There were no changes to the membership of the Executive Council, though Mike Farnworth was named deputy premier in October after Horgan was diagnosed with throat cancer.

[32] COVID-related legislation included a new entitlement for employees to receive paid leave to receive a vaccination against COVID-19,[33] prohibiting until July 2023 any conduct that disrupts access to COVID-19 vaccination sites or hospitals with emergency rooms,[34] making permanent several temporary measures allowing electronic local government council meetings, and extending the COVID-19 Related Measures Act to December 31, 2022.

On division, with the BC Liberal Party opposed, the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act was amended to increase the number of electoral districts from 87 to 93 and remove the provisions that required a certain number to be located in the North, the Cariboo-Thompson and the Columbia-Kootenay regions despite population factors;[39] and forestry-related legislation was amended to require forestry companies to publicly disclose where operations will occur, replace forest stewardship plans with forest landscape plans with a new set of objectives, require licence holders maintain inventories of ecosystems, recreation-visual resources, reduce annual allowable cuts for purposes of redistribution to small businesses and create a new designation for non-timber production purpose.