Release
Department of Finance and Treasury Board
March 17, 2026
FREDERICTON (GNB) – The provincial government has tabled its 2026-27 budget, delivering the largest investment in health care in New Brunswick’s history while aiming to support families with the cost of living and strengthen communities across the province.
The budget invests $710 million more in health care than last year’s as part of a plan to focus on New Brunswickers’ priorities.
“New Brunswickers told us what they needed, and this budget delivers,” said Finance and Treasury Board Minister René Legacy. “We are making the largest investment in health care our province has ever seen while helping families manage the cost of living and making the responsible decisions needed to sustain these investments for the future.”
The budget also includes investments in affordability, education and economic development while taking steps to ensure government spending remains responsible and sustainable for the future.
Economic and fiscal conditions
The government projects real GDP growth of one per cent in 2026, reflecting global economic uncertainty and ongoing trade pressures.
Revenues are projected to reach $14.24 billion, while spending is projected at $15.63 billion, resulting in a deficit of $1.39 billion.
“This budget reflects a changing economic reality and uncertainty in the global economy,” said Legacy. “But our mission remains the same: to put New Brunswickers first by investing in the services people rely on while managing public finances responsibly, because a healthy New Brunswick produces a strong economy.”
A generational investment in health care
Ensuring New Brunswickers can timely access care, close to home, is the government’s number one priority and is the central focus of the 2026-27 budget.
The government is investing $710 million more in health care than last year, including investments to improve access to care, recruit and retain providers, and modernize the health system.
Key investments include:
· $170.4 million as part of the physician services agreement with the New Brunswick Medical Society, which introduces new compensation models that reward doctors for patient attachment, timely access and participation in team-based collaborative care practices.
· $5.4 million to support medical education in several fields and to support international recruitment of medical graduates and trained nurses.
· $30 million to expand the collaborative care clinic model.
· $50 million to continue work to modernize and digitize the health-care system, supporting the ongoing implementation of a clinical information system.
· $2.5 million to equip paramedics with thrombolytics, which are clot-busting medications that can improve outcomes for people having a heart attack or stroke.
· $5 million to expand cancer screening programs and make at-home Pap screening available.
· $10 million to make home care more affordable.
· $4 million to expand the Nursing Home Without Walls program.
· $2.6 million to increase the hours of care in nursing homes.
Investing in affordability and housing
The budget includes measures to ease cost-of-living pressures for New Brunswick families while continuing to expand affordable housing.
Investments include:
· $17 million for a new community housing retention and expansion project, to help meet the needs of low- to moderate-income New Brunswickers.
· $10.2 million in wraparound services for supportive housing.
· $4.4 million to index social assistance rates to inflation.
· $98.1 million to continue the residential electricity rebate.
“These investments will help take some of the pressure off families who are feeling the pinch from rising costs,” said Legacy.
Investing in a brighter future for kids and students
To support student and teacher success in the classroom, the government is investing $19.3 million for additional educational assistants in both the anglophone and francophone sectors.
Other investments include:
· An additional $7 million to deliver a school lunch program across the province.
· $5.8 million for additional resource teachers, academic support teachers and guidance counsellors.
· An additional $1.4 million to support recruitment and retention through onboarding, mentorship and workplace improvements.
Investing in New Brunswick
The budget also includes investments to help businesses grow, support key sectors and strengthen the province’s economy.
Specific investments include:
· $2 million in the Agriculture Growth Action Plan and $750,000 in the Local Food and Beverage Program to accelerate growth related to producing food in New Brunswick.
· $21 million in Opportunities NB’s Competitiveness and Growth Program, to assist major export-oriented companies in the province.
· $2.8 million to help stabilize the arts and culture sector and help boost the creative economy through new jobs, fostering innovation and delivering more access to the arts.
· $250,000 to support pay transparency implementation.
· $6.7 million to strengthen wildfire preparedness and response efforts.
Making difficult decisions
The budget includes measures to ensure government spending remains sustainable, so investments in health care and essential services can continue.
Decisions include:
· Reducing Part 1 of the civil service by about 12 per cent over three years, for savings of up to $100 million.
· Reviewing underutilized assets, including government buildings and schools with fewer than 100 students. The operation of heritage properties with fewer than 5,000 annual visitors will be transferred to community partners or closed.
· Discontinuing provincial field veterinary services, which will be handed off to the private sector, as well as provincial veterinary lab and foreign animal disease lab services. These will be phased out over the next three fiscal years.
· Introducing tolls on non-New Brunswick vehicles. A toll booth near the Aulac district of Tantramar will be operational by 2028, with revenue directed specifically to road and bridge maintenance.
“Investing in New Brunswickers means making difficult decisions,” said Legacy. “We are committed to managing public finances responsibly so we can keep investing in the services people rely on today and for years to come.”
17-03-26
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Media Contact(s)
Alycia Bartlett, communications, Department of Finance and Treasury Board, [email protected].