A record $1.6 billion will be spent on capital projects in our province over the next 12 months.
More than $500 million will go toward major hospital projects happening in Halifax, Sydney, Bridgewater and Amherst.
An additional $240 million is budgeted to renovate or add on space to crowded schools.
Finance Minister Allan MacMaster says we need to invest strategically as our population grows.
“If we continue on that trend…we need to make sure we are not in a situation like we are today. In Halifax, our school are bursting at the seams. So, we need to make sure we are investing for the future,” said MacMaster. “These are generational investments.”
The capital plan supports:
— $275.1 million for the Halifax Infirmary expansion and Cape Breton Regional Municipality
healthcare redevelopment projects
— $91 million for construction and renewal of other hospitals and medical facilities, including
projects in Bridgewater, Pugwash, Yarmouth, Amherst and at the IWK Health Centre
— $57.7 million for electronic health records (One Person One Record)
— $33.2 million for Bayers Lake Community Outpatient Facility construction
— $32 million to repair and replace medical equipment
— $22 million to repair and replace medical facilities
— $21.3 million for various capital initiatives in Action for Health, the government’s plan to
transform and improve healthcare in Nova Scotia.
Other capital plan highlights include:
— $240.8 million to build and renovate schools, including an increase of $24 million for capital
repairs and $40 million for new modular units
— $97.2 million for Nova Scotia Community College’s Sydney waterfront campus and three
residence projects
— $84.2 million for information technology projects
— a new $50-million envelope for future land needs
— $21 million for public housing repairs, an increase of $15.3 million
— $10.2 million for provincial park repairs and upgrades, an increase of $9.2 million.
Another $550 million will go to roads and other related work to support transportation, including $60 million more than last year for secondary highways and $15 million more for gravel roads.
Meantime, the province is also putting aside $10 million to upgrade provincial parks after damage from recent storms such as Hurricane Fiona.
