Holt government earmarks more money for school infrastructure in $1.2B capital budget

New Brunswick's new Liberal government is ramping up spending on infrastructure, but not by a large margin.

René Legacy delivered a capital budget Tuesday mapping out around $1.2 billion in spending in the 2025-26 fiscal year, around $70 million more than what the previous Progressive Conservative government planned to spend in the same year.

While inflationary pressure on construction costs has started to level off, "demand continues to outpace the resources available," Legacy said.

"Money alone will not be enough to close the infrastructure gap we currently have. We will need to find solutions by being innovative and thinking outside the box."

The budget includes $193.7 million in education projects, an increase over the PC infrastructure spending plan for 2025-26.

The previous government's slow pace of school construction to keep up with growing enrolment numbers, especially in the southeast, is the subject of a lawsuit against the province by the Francophone South district education council.

The DEC is arguing that the lack of new francophone school projects in the district violated the constitutional right to education equality.

Legacy told reporters that requests for projects were "much larger … than what we were able to fulfil this year. We're going to have to look at some ways of doing things differently."

That could include modular construction, better forecasting of needs "to try to find some way to loosen up some capital to get more done with the dollars that we have."

He said the province will restart a mid-life upgrade to the Francophone South DEC's Polyvalente Louis-J.-Robichaud in Shediac, a project that was put on hold by the previous PC government in 2018.

It will also study the need for francophone schools in the St. Stephen-St.George and Sussex-Hampton area.

Another mid-life upgrade put on hold by the PCs, at Polyvalente W.-Arthur-Losier in Tracadie, will also restart.

There will also be work on choosing a site and construction of a new kindergarten-to-Grade 8 school in the Fredericton area and on converting part of the former WorkSafe building in Grand Bay-Westfield to a school.

The previous PC government announced the plan for the WorkSafe building in September, shortly before the start of the election campaign. 

The capital budget also has money to fund work on additions for École Abbey-Landry in Memramcook and St. Mary's Academy in Edmundston.

Legacy told reporters at the legislature that more details on education projects will be released when that department presents detailed estimates later in the week. 

In the health-care sector, the Liberals plan to spent $226.1 million, up from the PC plan of $214.2 million.

The number includes $185 million for work on hospitals, including ongoing upgrades in the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst and the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton.

Detailed breakdowns of other departmental spending on capital projects will come later.

Legacy's speech also laid out more spending on nursing homes, roads and bridges, tree nurseries, trails and tourism facilities.