{"id":63377,"date":"2026-03-28T22:13:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T01:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=63377"},"modified":"2026-03-28T22:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T01:13:02","slug":"column-n-s-budget-invests-in-healthcare-housing-and-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=63377","title":{"rendered":"Column: N.S. Budget invests in healthcare, housing, and education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The following is the monthly column submitted to media by Premier Tim Houston’s office.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nova Scotians don\u2019t need to be told the world is uncertain. They can see it in the headlines. What they need from their government is a clear plan: Invest in the things that matter most, manage the Province\u2019s finances responsibly and make tough decisions when circumstances demand it. That is what Budget 2026\u201327 delivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This budget makes generational investments in healthcare<\/strong>, investing 12 per cent more to continue to improve primary care, including recruiting more family doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and family practice nurses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will build on many years of progress. There are already 2,500 more nurses and 570 more doctors than when we took office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our investments in long-term care will open seven long-term care homes this year alone, as we work towards our goal to build 5,700 new and replacement long-term care spaces by 2032. These are not just numbers on a page; they represent dignity and care for our seniors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are continuing with unprecedented efforts to build more homes faster for Nova Scotians. Already, housing starts are up nearly 40 per cent over the last two years. This budget includes more money for public housing, for rent supplements that help people afford apartments, and to train more skilled trades workers to get these homes built faster<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of this is possible without fiscal discipline. Provinces across Canada, as well as the federal government, are facing rising deficits and making difficult decisions to bring them down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our budget presents a plan to defend investments in the core services like healthcare, housing and education. We are reducing the size of the civil service and we are being disciplined with new spending decisions while we bring resource projects here to generate revenue that will benefit Nova Scotians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our government has shown over the years that when we can do more, we do more. Even after budget reductions, this budget still invests $66 million in the arts, which is $15 million more than when we formed government in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We heard from Nova Scotians that some of our budget decisions missed the mark. We agreed and restored funding where it mattered most: for seniors, people with disabilities and for students from equity-deserving groups seeking to further their education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no question that this has been a tough budget, but government can only gain revenue to do more for Nova Scotians in two ways: by taxing you more or by growing the economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are choosing to grow the economy by developing our natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nova Scotia is growing and we want to keep it that way. This budget meets this moment with continued investments in healthcare, long-term care and housing, all while managing our finances for the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Houston
Premier of Nova Scotia<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The following is the monthly column submitted to media by Premier Tim Houston’s office. Nova Scotians don\u2019t need to be told the world is uncertain. They can see it in the headlines. What they need from their government is a clear plan: Invest in the things that matter most, manage the Province\u2019s finances responsibly and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,997],"tags":[2520,579,1715,1637,3484,1077,2517],"class_list":["post-63377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-column","category-columns","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-healthcare","tag-housing","tag-natural-resources","tag-nova-scotia","tag-premier-tim-houston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63377","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=63377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}