Health care is the focus as the provincial government brings down a budget that is big on spending. The debt sits at $15.7 billion, the province is borrowing $1.5 billion this year, but expects to be in a surplus next year.
There are no tax or fee increases this year. A number of cost-of-living measures—including extensions to the $500 home heating supplement for those who heat with oil, the 8 cent reduction in provincial taxes on gas and diesel, and increases to the Senior’s Benefit, Income Supplement and the elimination of the retail sales tax on home insurance, will continue—but there is no mention of a repeat of the $500 cost of living cheque at this time.
The big news is the $3.9 billion set aside for spending on health care. $64 million is earmarked for increases to wages for ECEs, and $12 million is being spent on more teaching units. Municipal operating grants are increasing by $3 million this year and another $3 million next year, while just over $19 million is being spent on settlement supports for newcomers, including Ukrainians.
The province is doubling the Physical Activity Tax Credit first announced last year, providing a refundable tax credit of up to $348 for families.
MUN’s core operating grant is $295 million with $69 million for the CNA. More money is being set aside for MUN’s Faculty of Medicine and $2.2 million is being spent to double the capacity for MUN’s nurse practitioner program.
The budget is being doubled to $3.88 million for new firefighting equipment, there is $1 million for the RNC to hire ten new officers, and more than $1 million for Status of Women’s Councils across the province. $9 million is being spent to consolidate 60 separate road ambulance services into a single, integrated service with a centralized dispatch.
$7.3 million is earmarked to “advance work” on a replacement for HMP, and $5.7 million for the ongoing extension of the Labrador Correctional Centre.
Finance Minister Siobhan Coady says the province is employing its strategic financial plan and as a result, the overall debt has decreased since last year.
She says the debt has been reduced from the $17.1 billion projected in last year’s budget to $15.7 billion this year.
Coady says debt reduction measures include optimizing their sinking fund performance, going to global markets to reduce borrowing costs, and having the Future Fund tied for the next ten years to paying down debt.
