HALIFAX, NS: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Nova Scotia government to bring forward a stronger spending reduction plan as Budget 2026 increases the debt by $5.5 billion.

“The government is talking about savings, but that talk doesn’t line up with the numbers,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Communications Director. “Instead, Premier Tim Houston is leaving future generations of Nova Scotians to pay the price for the government’s debt binge.”

Houston is planning to cut spending on the bureaucracy and grant funding this year. These measures will save taxpayers about $305 million.

However, the government is increasing overall spending by $1.4 billion this year compared to last year’s budget.

As a result, the government is increasing the debt by $5.5 billion compared to last year’s budget. By the end of the year, the debt will be $27.9 billion. Each Nova Scotian’s per capita share of the debt will be about $25,000.

Houston is planning to keep borrowing money and add to the debt until at least 2029.

Debt interest payments will cost taxpayers more than $1 billion this year. Debt interest payments will cost taxpayers more than $2.8 million per day.

Finance Minister John Lohr acknowledged soaring interest charges in his budget speech: “Every dollar spent servicing debt is a dollar we cannot spend responding to new challenges or protecting essential services.”

“The government knows debt interest charges are a problem, but it’s still planning to keep irresponsibly borrowing money for years to come,” said Haubrich. “Houston needs to make the tough decisions to cut wasteful spending now because taxpayers can’t afford to have the government waste more than a billion dollars on debt interest payments every year.”