{"id":62600,"date":"2026-02-23T18:06:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T22:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=62600"},"modified":"2026-02-23T18:06:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T22:06:45","slug":"budget-2026-27-central-nova-scotia-investments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=62600","title":{"rendered":"Budget 2026-27: Central Nova Scotia investments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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HALIFAX:<\/strong> In this year’s budget, Nova Scotia is forging a path toward powering its future, building stronger, healthier communities and ensuring the Province\u2019s fiscal sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finance and Treasury Board Minister John Lohr tabled Budget 2026-27: Defending Nova Scotia on February 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s budget is about continuing to invest in the strategic priorities that will drive the province forward and build our economy,” said Minister Lohr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the same time, we are planning for the long term to reduce expenses and keep our province on strong fiscal footing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget 2026-27 continues to make life more affordable, with $681.2 million to continue tax saving measures that will save the average family more than $1,400 this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some of the projects in central Nova Scotia include:
– $1.2\u00a0billion\u00a0for\u00a0the Halifax Infirmary Expansion Project and Cape Breton Regional Municipality Health Care redevelopment project (capital)
– $144.5 million for construction and renewal of other hospitals and medical facilities, including the IWK Health Centre (capital)
– $4.7 million toward the first phase of the Menopause Centre of Excellence to help women get the specialized care they need (operating and capital)
– $1.8 million for a new operations centre to improve emergency health services in the Halifax area
– $1.2 million to provide integrated primary healthcare and mental health and addictions care at Ozanam Place, a Halifax supportive housing facility for seniors with complex needs experiencing homelessness
– $873.8 million to build 5,700 new and replacement long-term care spaces by 2032, including Adeline Hall in Bedford and DePaul Hall in Halifax, which will open this year (capital)
– $56.5 million in student\u00a0assistance, an increase of $6.7 million, to help more than\u00a040,000 students
– $100.4 million for breakfast and lunch programs in Nova Scotia schools, offering all students nutritious and affordable meals
– $110.3 million to build and renovate schools, including the opening of \u00c9cole sur la p\u00e9ninsule d\u2019Halifax in the 2026-27 school year (capital)
– $7 million to open five Integrated Youth Services sites across the province, including in Halifax, by 2027-28
– $10.8 million for modular child-care\u00a0centres\u00a0on school properties, including at J. L. Ilsley High School in Spryfield and Marine Drive Academy in Sheet Harbour
– $5 million more, for a total of $77 million, that will increase the number of active rent supplements to 10,500
– $46.4 million to build new public housing units, including in Shannon Park in Dartmouth, and\u00a0to maintain\u00a0existing public housing units (operating and capital)
– $373,000 for upgrades to the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth
– $958,000 to enhance air access between Maritime provinces and better connect businesses and travellers in the region
– $1.2 million to continue the Land Transfer Initiative program and help African Nova Scotian communities remove systemic barriers and support housing
– $120.1 million for Halifax Harbour Bridges
– $1 million to pilot artificial intelligence traffic signals in Halifax Regional Municipality
– $465 million for highway and road improvement and safety provincewide, including multi-year projects (capital):
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Highway 107 \u2013 twinning Burnside to Lake Loon
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0– Highway 107 \u2013 Exit 18 to 19 passing lanes, access improvements
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – Highway 111\/118 \u2013 intersection lighting upgrades from the Victoria Road interchange to Pleasant Street, access improvements.

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Budget 2026-27 also introduces a four-year fiscal sustainability plan to contain expense growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes a five per cent civil service reduction and a three per cent reduction in the broader public service, which includes Crown corporations, regional centres for education and other entities.

\u201cWe value our hard-working public servants, but government needs to become more focused and efficient,\u201d said Minister Lohr. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will protect core front-line services that Nova Scotians rely on, and work to right-size government through attrition wherever possible.\u201d

Quick Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– with revenues of $17.3 billion and expenses of $18.9 billion, Budget 2026-27 estimates a deficit of $1.19 billion (after consolidation and adjustments) before contingency<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– additional appropriations related to the 2025-26 budget forecast total $47.4 million since the December forecast update<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HALIFAX: In this year’s budget, Nova Scotia is forging a path toward powering its future, building stronger, healthier communities and ensuring the Province\u2019s fiscal sustainability. Finance and Treasury Board Minister John Lohr tabled Budget 2026-27: Defending Nova Scotia on February 23. \u201cThis year\u2019s budget is about continuing to invest in the strategic priorities that will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[965,957],"tags":[1284,10414,6096,50,2602,1077,16],"class_list":["post-62600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-hants","category-news","tag-budget","tag-budget-2026-27","tag-central-n-s","tag-halifax","tag-minister-john-lohr","tag-nova-scotia","tag-waverley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}