HALIFAX/ KJIPUKTUK – The December Financial Update released today by the provincial government raises serious concerns about fiscal priorities and the continued lack of sufficient investment to help Nova Scotians with the cost of living.
“Nova Scotians are struggling with rising rents, low vacancy rates for affordable units, and homelessness, while the government has chosen to forgo $500 million in revenue through tax cuts that disproportionately benefit higher-income households,” said Dr. Christine Saulnier, Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia. “This revenue loss creates a real risk that the deficit will now be used to justify austerity measures in the upcoming budget, at a time when public investment is urgently needed.”
This fiscal update shows a growing disconnect between fiscal decisions and the scale of Nova Scotia’s housing crisis. The government has failed over the past five years to build an adequate amount of affordable housing; instead it used public funds to support private developers, ensuring the housing crisis will continue.
“The only way out of the housing crisis is to build more non-market affordable housing. We need about 4,000 permanently affordable units built each year for ten years if the crisis is going to end,” said Saulnier. “Without this massive investment, it will be many more decades before Nova Scotians have access to the affordable housing they need. While the government claims it is making a difference, most of its funding goes to subsidizing below-market rents and rent supplements, neither of which creates permanently affordable housing, where people spend no more than 30% of their income on shelter costs.”
Saulnier says, “Fiscal choices matter, and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, they should be evaluated based on whether they improve affordability and stability for the many. Transparency requires the government to release the income distributional analysis of its tax cuts, including a clear breakdown of benefits by income level.”
CCPA-NS made a submission to the provincial budget process, which outlined the need for increased investment to address housing and the cost of living, alongside proposals for new crown corporations in transportation, cooperatives, insurance, and energy, and making the tax system fair and more progressive.
The 2026 Nova Scotia Alternative Budget will be released in January with details on these proposals.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact us [email protected] or 902-240-0926
