Cuts coming as New Brunswick government looks to revamp economy: Premier Holt

FREDERICTON — New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says her government has a plan to transform the provincial economy, but warns doing so will require difficult decisions, including cuts to government spending.

Taking the stage Thursday for the annual State of the Province address in Fredericton, the premier said many New Brunswickers feel insecure financially and in the safety of their communities. She said the government wants to help in areas such as affordability, safety and health care.

“We have to find ways to do that, which means we have to (make) difficult decisions,” Holt told the crowd. “There are really challenging decisions to come for our province in terms of how we fuel our ambitions for growth.

“How we invest in improving your health care and making life more affordable means we have to stop doing some other things. And they’re going to be things that we don’t want to stop doing.”

Holt said the economy and health care are her two biggest priorities. Her government plans to release as early as next week an economic development plan, outlining where the cuts may fall, she said.

During the last update in November, the government revealed its deficit had increased to $834.7 million, a 52 per cent increase over the $549-million deficit projected in the March budget.

“We need you to help us identify the areas that we can reduce spending in order to fuel our health care system and our economy,” said Holt. “In times like these, the riskiest thing you can do is do nothing. Our government is not going to do nothing.”

Holt said the economic development plan will have three main planks: closing the productivity gap, attracting more investment and increasing exports to markets outside the United States.

She said that will mean investment in ports and airports, high-speed internet, and other economic infrastructure to help businesses sell to the world. She also pledged to invest in new energy infrastructure to bring down the cost of electricity.

Nuclear, wind, solar, biomass and hydrogen projects would be part of the mix, she said.

The premier said there are opportunities for New Brunswick in the mining and forestry sectors and that her government would push on natural resources development.

New Brunswick was the first province to sign on last month to a plan for joint federal and provincial environmental assessments, which could provide a boost for projects like the long-delayed Sisson Mine near Stanley, N.B., about 60 kilometres northwest of Fredericton.

The open-pit mine is on a list of “nation-building” projects that could be fast-tracked by the federal government.

The premier said the government would commit to expanding the Small Business Investor Tax Credit, which currently offers a 50 per cent tax credit for personal investors and a 15 per cent tax credit for corporate or trust investors, putting their money into eligible small businesses.

Holt said the federal government plans to invest $1 billion into New Brunswick’s defence sector, and the provincial government needs to ensure workers and infrastructure are available so homegrown companies benefit.

She said New Brunswick can add $1 billion to its GDP by 2035 through planned investments in agriculture. The government has an action plan on agricultural growth in the works.

Holt also said a new tourism action plan can add $1 billion to the sector by 2031.

Holt’s Liberals won a majority government in October 2024. On Thursday, the premier went through a number of statistics from her first year in power and admitted the results were “mixed.”

She said the province met a number of environmental goals, such as reducing energy use in government buildings and installing air-quality monitoring technology in schools. About 30.5 per cent of schools have been outfitted. The rest are expected to be by June.

Holt also said 7,587 housing starts helped the government reduce homelessness.

While the government met its literacy targets for anglophone and immersion students, it missed its metric with francophone students. Chronic absenteeism is down across the education system, she said.

While the long-term care waiting list is down slightly, Holt said the number of New Brunswickers without a family doctor keeps her up at night. She said that number’s been heading in the wrong direction since 2017.

About 40,000 more people are without a family doctor or nurse practitioner compared to last year. About 238,000 people — 28.5 per cent of the population — are not attached to a primary health care provider.

Holt said her government is treating health care workers with more respect, such as retention mechanisms for nurses. She also said a new contract with physicians, set to take effect in April, is gaining traction.

“We are already seeing the interest from doctors across the country and outside of this country,” said Holt.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2026.

— By Devin Stevens in Halifax

The Canadian Press