Budget 2017-2018: Investments in Cape Breton

Communities in Cape Breton will benefit from improvements to education, infrastructure and health care as part of investments in Budget 2017-2018.

“Our budget focuses on helping prepare our children, youth and young adults for opportunities to succeed here at home knowing that when we help families, we help strengthen our province,” said Finance Minister Randy Delorey. “We are also including supports for our aging population that will help older Nova Scotians stay involved and connected to their communities, promote healthy living, and keep older adults in the workforce.”

Highlights in Budget 2017-2018 for Cape Breton include:

• renovations to Brookland Elementary School in Sydney
• skilled trades centres at Richmond Academy in Louisdale and Riverview Rural High School in Coxheath
• road improvement projects, including upgrades to the Cabot Trail and improvements to the roadway and swing bridge at Canso Causeway
• funding for a new community health centre in New Waterford
• funding for the planning, design, and construction of a satellite dialysis unit in Glace Bay
• continued support for Celtic Colours to promote, celebrate and develop Cape Breton’s Celtic culture
• funding for the new Cape Breton Centre for Arts, Culture and Innovation in Sydney
• expanded services to protect women and address domestic violence, including making the Domestic Violence Court permanent
• funding for a second cruise ship berth in Sydney Harbour to increase tourism potential
• additional support for community-based mental health services

Cape Breton will also benefit from provincewide investments including:

• reducing taxes for more than 500,000 people through an increase of up to $3,000 to the basic personal amount, for incomes up to $75,000
• increasing the small business tax threshold to $500,000 from $350,000, reducing taxes for 1,800 small businesses
• support for the recruitment and retention of doctors
• a three-year investment in SHIFT: Nova Scotia’s Action Plan for an Aging Population
• funding to increase access to affordable housing, in partnership with the federal government
• a new target to reduce red tape for businesses
• enhancements to the Graduate to Opportunity program to help recent graduates land their first job in Nova Scotia
• 30 new pre-primary sites with early learning programming for four-year-olds with a plan to expand to provincewide in four years
• funding to hire school psychologists and speech pathologists
• the expansion of the reading recovery program in schools and an increased investment in coding and computer skills initiatives for primary to Grade 12 students
• improvements to rural Internet access

Budget 2017-2018 projects a $136.2 million surplus. The surplus includes a one-time revenue increase of $110.3 million because of federal and municipal contributions for the convention centre in Halifax. The $110.3 million will go towards the debt to provide the fiscal capacity to launch a multi-year development of the QEII Health Sciences Centre, enhancing care for Nova Scotians and Atlantic Canadians. The resulting net position is $25.9 million.

Revenue and expenses (including consolidation and accounting adjustments) are both estimated to increase by 3.1 per cent from Budget 2016-2017.

Government will invest $515 million in roads, schools, health care and public infrastructure in 2017-2018 through the capital plan.

For more information about the 2017-2018 provincial budget, visit http://www.novascotia.ca/budget.