On September 26, 2017, the Honourable Karen Casey presented her first budget as Nova Scotia's Finance and Treasury Board Minister. This budget is a re-introduction of the budget that was shelved by the Liberal government when Premier Stephen McNeil called an election. The election was held on May 30, 2017.
After several years of deficits, a surplus of $150 million is reported for 2016-17, which is higher than the previously estimated net surplus of $17 million. A total surplus of $127 million was estimated for 2016-17, but that amount included a one-time revenue amount of $110 million made up of federal and municipal contributions for the convention centre in Halifax. Due to the changing timeframe for completion of the convention centre, the government moved this one-time funding amount to the 2017-18 fiscal year. The forecast surplus for 2017-18 is $131 million, for a net surplus of $21 million. This is about $4.6 million lower than the surplus in the budget as originally tabled on April 27, 2017, prior to the election campaign.
This budget allocated significant spending towards infrastructure development. As well, increased healthcare spending will provide improved access to health care, including $5 million to enhance mental health programs. Education spending increases focus on early learning programs including the expansion of publicly funded pre-primary programs for four-year olds.
As no new tax changes were announced in the budget you can see our full budget report from April.
Download BDO's Budget Report
Nova Scotia Budget Summary - Statement of Operations (in millions $)
| |
Actual 2016/2017 |
Estimate April 27, 2017 for 2017/2018 |
Revised Estimate 2017/2018 |
Estimate 2018/2019 |
| Revenue |
9,813 |
10,208 |
10,195 |
10,151 |
| Expenses |
(9,262) |
(9,666) |
(9,663) |
(9,668) |
| Debt servicing costs |
(824) |
(850) |
(850) |
(873) |
| Consolidation and accounting adjustments for governmental units |
28 |
65 |
70 |
43 |
| Net income from government business enterprises |
395 |
379 |
379 |
375 |
| Contribution to fiscal capacity for provincial health complex |
|
(110) |
(110) |
|
| Provincial surplus |
150 |
26 |
21 |
28 |
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The information in this publication is current as of September 26, 2017.
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