No new taxes or fees as Budget 2026 tabled in the House of Assembly
Finance Minister Craig Pardy tabled his first provincial budget on Wednesday afternoon, titled Budget 2026: Opportunity for All of Us. Minister Pardy says Budget 2026 focused on lowering taxes for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, improving health care and creating safer communities.
There are investments throughout the pages of Budget 2026 to make life more affordable, by lowering taxes with over $200 million across the fiscal forecast, for targeted relief from the affordability challenges facing residents. The province will be increasing the basic personal amount exempt from income tax to $15,000, saving 285,000 taxpayers hundreds of dollars per year. The Seniors’ Benefit will increase by 20 per cent, benefitting nearly 50,000 seniors.
When it comes to health care funding in Budget 2026, the province is investing a total of $5.4 billion in better health care.
-Almost $8 million to train and recruit more local nurses and nurse practitioners. This includes additional support to ensure existing seats are filled and students complete their training.
•$7 million for new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines in Grand Falls-Windsor and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
•$6.5 million to implement a provincial nursing travel team to reduce reliance on agency nurses.
•$5 million to provide paid work-terms for students pursuing health care careers in hard-to-fill areas.
Creating safer communities across Newfoundland and Labrador is something the new PC government promised in their election campaign, now, they have promised $250 million to continue to support thousands of kilometres of new paving, culverts and bridge construction. Other investments include:
•More than $184 million to support municipalities through programs and initiatives that help them grow
stronger and more vibrant.
•$17 million to create safer roadways, which includes $3 million for 24-hour snow clearing, $14 million for
brush clearing, road signage, culvert replacement, road patching and moose fencing.
•Over $11 million to enhance court services.
•$9 million annualized to hire 46 new police officers over two years.
Fiscal Overview
•Projected deficit of $688.5 million for 2026-27.
•Projected revenues for 2026-27 are $10.8 billion.
•Projected expenses for 2026-27 are $11.5 billion, which represents just a 1.1 per cent increase over the
previous fiscal year.
•Of the $11.5 billion in expenses, just over $544 million is 100 per cent federally funded.
•Net debt is expected to be $20.8 billion in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
•Projected borrowing requirement for 2026-27 is $3.9 billion.
•The Department of Finance’s oil price assumption is $US79 per barrel and Finance’s CAD/USD exchange rate
assumption is 0.741. These assumptions are informed by 11 Brent oil price forecasters and eight CAD/USD exchange rate forecasters.
• royalties in 2026-27 are expected to represent 19 per cent of overall revenues.
Economic Outlook
•Newfoundland and Labrador’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is forecast to increase by 5.5 per cent in 2026, driven primarily by higher oil and mineral production. This is expected to be the highest forecast growth in real GDP of every province in Canada.
•Total employment is forecast to increase by 0.2 per cent in 2026.
•Population is projected to remain steady in 2026 as growth moderates from recent years, largely due to reductions in federal immigration levels.
•Retail sales are expected to increase by 3.1 per cent in 2026, reflecting income growth and lower taxes.
•Consumer inflation is forecast to average 2.7 per cent in 2026, as the conflict in the Middle East puts upward pressure on energy prices.
•Household disposable income is projected to increase
Related Articles
