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Nova Scotia Releases Capital Budget with more than $1 Billion Invested in Health

February 14, 2025

Nova Scotia Releases Capital Budget with more than $1 Billion Invested in Health

 

February 14, 2025 – The Tim Huston government in Nova Scotia has announced the province’s largest ever capital plan, with more than $1 -billion earmarked for health care projects. The Capital Plan 2025/26 was unveiled on Thursday, February 13, by Finance and Treasury Board Minister John Lohr, one day ahead of the opening of the first session of the 65th General Assembly on February 14.  

The capital expenditures totals over $2.35 billion, building on the government’s “More, Faster” health care building strategy, which has heavily invested in the health system. That plan, launched in 2022, saw the large Queen Elizabeth II hospital redevelopment in Halifax divided into several smaller projects. The provincial government has said those changes, which see more building across the province as well as in the Halifax health care core, will allow the needs of a growing population with complex health requirements to be met sooner. 

Key areas of focus for the 2025/26 plan include:

  • Major Hospital Projects: $750.9 million is allocated for the Halifax Infirmary expansion and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality health care redevelopment. 
  • Hospital Construction and Renewal: $131.9 million will go towards various hospital projects across the province, including Amherst, Yarmouth, the South Shore, and the IWK Health Centre in Halifax. 
  • Digital Health Transformation: $90.9 million is earmarked for the “One Person One Record” initiative, aiming to create a unified digital health record system. 
  • Infrastructure and Equipment: The plan includes $42 million for repairs and replacements of medical facilities, $32 million for medical equipment, $19.2 million for modular dialysis units, and $15.3 million for new diagnostic imaging equipment. 
  • Oncology Care: $3.1 million will support the second year of a multi-disciplinary oncology partnership.

The new capital plan also includes the first investment in new public housing in 20 years, with 242 new units and $31.6 million to modernize and repair existing public housing.

The Official Opposition NDP has said health care spending and housing affordability will be their top concerns when the Legislature opens Friday.