New Brunswick.

• Date: 22 June 2022
• Author: Del Frate, Alicia R.

Budget

The First Session of the 60th Legislature adjourned on December 17 and resumed on March 22, when Finance and Treasury Board Minister Ernie Steeves tabled the 2022-2023 Main Estimates. This is the fourth budget delivered by the Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Blaine Eliggs.

The 2022-2023 budget projects a surplus of $35.2 million after total spending of $11.3 billion. While revenues are projected to grow by 1.2 per cent, the Department of Finance and Treasury Board projects New Brunswick's gross domestic product to grow by 2.2 per cent in 2022. The net debt-to-GDP ratio is projected at 30.1 per cent by March 31, 2023.

Highlights of the budget included $40 million in personal income tax relief to offset federal carbon-pricing increases; continued reductions to the provincial property tax rate resulting in a $45 million revenue reduction; a one-year cap on the allowable increase to rent of 3.8 per cent that is retroactive to January 1, 2022; an increase of $6.3 million for affordable housing; a healthcare budget totalling $3.2 billion, which represents a 6.4 per cent increase; and $38.6 million to increase wages for human services workers.

On March 24, Finance Critic Robert McKee delivered the Official Opposition's Reply to the Budget. Mr. McKee argued that the government underestimated the province's revenues while overestimating expenditures, which led to financial forecasting uncertainty and a missed opportunity to correct financial inequities for New Brunswickers. The Official Opposition outlined service inequities in rural healthcare compared to urban services, a shortage of nursing home facilities in the province, a lack of mental health services in schools, a shortage of subsidized or...