As costs spike on Cape Breton cancer centre, opposition questions price tags on other projects

Opposition leaders say the doubling of this year's construction budget for a new cancer centre in Cape Breton has them concerned about what it could mean for the cost of other major health-care projects in Nova Scotia.

The Tory government signed an order in council earlier this month to give an additional $41 million to the project in Sydney. That's on top of the $39.4 million allocated to the project in the 2023-24 provincial budget, passed in April. 

"This is a budget that was released just months ago and now we're already seeing the cost of one of Nova Scotia's signature health capital plans double — this is a problem," said Liberal Leader Zach Churchill.

Churchill said it has him wondering about the budgeting process and what it means for other major projects on the horizon, such as the Halifax Infirmary redevelopment, a project whose budget has yet to be released but is certain to cost in the billions of dollars.

"I'm worried about the province's ability to deliver on these critical health-care infrastructure projects that are necessary for patients in Nova Scotia and for staff."

A government spokesperson said earlier this week that the cost increase for the Cape Breton project was related to inflation, supply chain issues and rising costs for materials and labour.

But NDP Leader Claudia Chender said those challenges should have been well documented and accounted for at the time finance officials were finalizing numbers for the provincial budget.

Chender said the province needs the projects, but the government must be more transparent about their cost and timelines so the public knows what to expect.

"And right now people are in the dark and when you see things like a doubling of a budget in four months, I think it would really behoove the government to come clean with what it's going to cost us and how they're going to pay for it," she said.

"This is a government that, in many ways, came to power through promises of transparency and reform. And we've seen none of it. This is a great example of where we need the government to walk the talk."

Colton LeBlanc, the cabinet minister responsible for health-care redevelopment projects, said the situation in Cape Breton was exacerbated by the amount of construction on the island and the scope of the work required for the cancer centre, issues that contributed to a limited number of bids on the work.

"I'd love to have dozens of bidders on these projects, but when you're talking such a significant phase of a project and the scope and magnitude of that phase and you're limited to only two bidders, that poses some challenges there as well."

The minister said the work on the cancer centre is now more than 60 per cent complete. It is scheduled to open in 2025.

LeBlanc said price spikes are an issue across the construction sector: roads are proving more expensive to pave and schools more expensive to build. Where they can, government officials look for savings. The cancer centre project, for example, found savings through the use of cheaper materials and scheduling changes that will help reduce labour costs.

More generally, LeBlanc said the government is looking at how it plans projects to help manage costs. The Halifax Infirmary redevelopment has been broken into stages, an approach that will deliver certain components of the project sooner while also allowing the government to stagger financing of the work.

And while the government tries to get the best deal possible on projects during challenging economic times, LeBlanc said he and his colleagues are also committed to addressing aging and outdated infrastructure.

"We're not going to be done these projects in five years; we're talking generational projects that are going to take some time to deliver. I wish I had the cards to tell me what the next 10 years are going to look like, but we'll have to see what the future holds."