{"id":63706,"date":"2026-04-09T21:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=63706"},"modified":"2026-04-09T21:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:44:00","slug":"legislative-sitting-concludes-with-budget-powering-the-economy-act-passed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=63706","title":{"rendered":"Legislative sitting concludes with budget, powering the economy act passed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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HALIFAX:<\/strong> The spring legislative sitting concluded April 9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This session\u2019s highlights included passing a budget with billions of dollars in new investments and the passage of the Powering the Economy Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, these measures deliver major investments in healthcare, long-term care, housing and energy development that will benefit Nova Scotians for years to come.

\u201cThis session was about putting Nova Scotians first,\u201d said Premier Tim Houston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe passed a budget that continues investing in healthcare, supports our seniors, gets more homes built, and positions Nova Scotia as an energy leader. That\u2019s what this government was elected to do, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re delivering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rebuilding Healthcare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget 2026\u201327 continues the government\u2019s generational investment in healthcare through the Action for Health plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key investments include $47.5 million to hire more paramedics and emergency medical responders across the province, $47.1 million to pay more to family doctors \u2013 including those covering shifts in long-term care facilities, hospitals and rural emergency departments \u2013 and $1.2 billion for the Halifax Infirmary Expansion Project and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Health Care redevelopment project.

The budget also invests $8 million more in the Universal Mental Health and Addictions Care Insured Services program and $7 million to open Integrated Youth Services sites across the province by 2027\u201328.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting Seniors and Long-Term Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government is investing $873.8 million toward its plan to build 5,700 new and replacement long-term care spaces by 2032. S<\/p>\n\n\n\n

even new facilities are expected to open this year in communities from Bridgetown to Arichat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operating funding of $20.8 million will support those new facilities, and an additional $26.5 million will go to the Home Support Direct Funding Program to help more seniors stay in their homes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Seniors Care Grant program continues with $26.5 million in funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Getting More Homes Built

<\/strong>Housing starts in Nova Scotia reached 9,760 units in 2025 \u2013 the highest number on record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budget builds on that momentum with a $300-million joint federal-provincial investment to support 1,430 new homes, including 930 units at Shannon Park in Dartmouth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional investments include $18.5 million for shovel-ready affordable housing projects, a continued expansion of rent supplements to 11,500 unique households, and a new First Time Homebuyers Pilot Program that lets eligible Nova Scotians purchase a home with a two per cent down payment through provincial credit unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powering the Economy Act<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislature also passed the Powering the Economy Act, which secures financial benefits from offshore wind development, modernizes the province\u2019s electricity system and creates a new framework to regulate subsurface energy sectors including geothermal, natural hydrogen and carbon storage.

\u201cOffshore wind is a game-changer for Nova Scotia,\u201d said Premier Houston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis legislation makes sure Nova Scotians reap the full benefits \u2013 good jobs, new revenue and cleaner energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The passage of this act is the latest in a string of positive developments for Nova Scotia\u2019s energy sector, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– signing an agreement with the federal government to streamline the process when both federal and provincial environmental approvals are needed for major infrastructure and resource projects (https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2026\/03\/27\/streamlined-approval-process-positions-nova-scotia-energy-leader<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Hydro-Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s request for information to assess options for the supply and transmission of electricity generated by offshore wind farms located off the coast of Nova Scotia (https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2026\/03\/25\/premiers-statement-hydro-quebecs-offshore-wind-move<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Massachusetts to work toward Nova Scotia supplying the state with clean energy from offshore wind (https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2026\/02\/04\/nova-scotia-massachusetts-sign-agreement-offshore-wind-energy<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– engaging Dalhousie University to oversee the $30-million Subsurface Energy Research and Development Investment Program; this project will help understand the potential for natural gas production in Nova Scotia and community readiness (https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2025\/12\/22\/new-program-develop-local-fuel-lower-power-rates<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Resources:<\/strong>\\<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget 2026-27 documents: https:\/\/novascotia.ca\/budget\/<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HALIFAX: The spring legislative sitting concluded April 9. This session\u2019s highlights included passing a budget with billions of dollars in new investments and the passage of the Powering the Economy Act. Together, these measures deliver major investments in healthcare, long-term care, housing and energy development that will benefit Nova Scotians for years to come. \u201cThis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,957],"tags":[10749,1715,10750,6263,1077,10751,2517],"class_list":["post-63706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-budget-passes","tag-healthcare","tag-legislature-sitting-concludes","tag-n-s-budget","tag-nova-scotia","tag-powering-the-economy-act","tag-premier-tim-houston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63706","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=63706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}