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New Brunswick budget 2026-27

Grand Bay-Westfield Mayor Brittany Merrifield

UMNB happy with fiscal reform progress in budget

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The Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick said there was some good news and some concerning news in this year’s provincial budget.

The organization is welcoming a commitment to the continuity of municipal fiscal reform.

“Investments in local infrastructure are essential to the economic development of our communities and the quality of life for our residents,” said UMNB president Brittany Merrifield.

Merrifield, also the mayor of Grand Bay-Westfield, said a $47.5-million increase announced in the budget is an important investment in New Brunswick communities.

A report prepared for UMNB by Dr. Craig Brett in 2023 benchmarked an infrastructure deficit of approximately $2.5 billion per year and called for $200 million per year in investment.

Last year, the province created the Capital Renewal Fund as part of municipal fiscal reform to assist municipalities in addressing their infrastructure deficits.

Fiscal reform news was welcome, but other elements of the budget were met with caution.

That included the proposed reduction in the size of the civil service and the proposed elimination of the provincial veterinary service.

UMNB said more time will be needed to understand the effect those elements could have on local governments and communities.

Pre-budget requests

UMNB had called for four key investments in its pre-budget submission, including:

  • Doubling funding for housing and infrastructure
  • Updating and operationalizing a provincial public transportation strategy
  • Committing to a digital shared service for local governments
  • Developing a municipal climate adaptation and mitigation fund

Merrifield said there were some positive developments based on UMNB’s pre-budget priorities, including funding for wildfire prevention, support for housing affordability and a modest increase to the Provincial-Municipal Highway Program.

“However, more work remains to be done,” she said.

“We continue to call on the province to diversify municipal revenues by sharing a portion of the HST to provide relief to property taxpayers, and to create a fund to support municipal climate change adaptation.”

Kathy Bockus

Veterinary cuts harm farmers, Tories say

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A plan to phase out provincially funded veterinary field and laboratory services is being met with some harsh criticism.

The Progressive Conservatives accused the Holt government of failing to consider small- and large-scale farms in the budget.

“It has failed to consider the impact of its decisions on people already coping with increased costs of feed, fertilizer and transportation,” PC MLA Kathy Bockus said in a member’s statement Wednesday.

“We have beef and dairy farms, sheep and goat farms, horse farms, poultry and egg farms, and bee keepers who all depend on accessible large animal vet care. Our opposition MLAs have been flooded with phone calls, texts, and emails from angry and frustrated farmers.”

Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Minister Pat Finnigan issued a statement Wednesday defending the decision.

“New Brunswickers have told us very clearly what matters to them: timely access to health care, help with the rising cost of living, and a strong education system,” Finnigan said. “We want to be able to deliver those by making investments that will have a real impact on the everyday lives of New Brunswickers.”

Finnigan said the government understands the decision to transition the services to the private sector is upsetting for employees and clients.

But he said the transition will not happen immediately, but over the next three fiscal years.

“By transitioning these functions into the private sector, we can allow the private clinics and veterinarians to provide more responsive and flexible services to our agricultural community,” Finnigan said.

According to Finnigan, New Brunswick is one of only two provinces still operating government-funded veterinary services.

He said only 27 per cent of those services are focused on commercial livestock such as dairy, beef and poultry.

“The costs of delivering these services are significant to the taxpayers of New Brunswick,” Finnigan said.

He said moving the services to the private sector creates a significant opportunity for innovation that will support the agriculture industry in New Brunswick for the long term.

Finnigan said his department will work with stakeholders through the transition, taking a variety of steps to support them.

  • Supporting provincial veterinarians with transitioning resources and business development supports to set up their own practice or join an existing private veterinarian clinic
  • Facilitating and transitioning efforts to empower private sector veterinarians and clinics to establish and expand service availability across New Brunswick
  • Developing a private veterinarian registry program to support and address service gaps in the core livestock sectors in underserved areas
  • Facilitating the transfer of laboratory functions, ensuring continuity of diagnostic services and pharmaceutical access
  • Maintaining the chief veterinary officer position to ensure continued oversight of disease management and animal welfare functions in collaboration with the New Brunswick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the federal government