Nunavut budget forecasts $124 million deficit

Nunavut’s budget for the coming fiscal year forecasts a $124-million deficit while increasing spending on health and family services programs.

Finance Minister Lorne Kusugak presented the government’s spending plan for 2025-26 in the legislative assembly Monday afternoon.

Speaking to reporters, Kusugak said he does not believe the deficit will have a “long-term negative impact” on the government.

“We’ve built up enough surpluses over the years, I believe, to begin to tackle some of these deficit situations that we bring forward,” he said.

The main focus of spending in Monday’s budget involves operations and maintenance, which combined will cost almost $2.3 billion.

The budget calls for about $3.3 billion in spending. That includes operations expenditures, such as day-to-day costs like salaries; the GN’s $350-million capital plan that was announced in the fall and includes various purchases, renovations and construction projects, as well as money set aside for unexpected shortfalls or emergency spending.

The GN is expected to take in $3.1 billion in revenue. Approximately 75 per cent of that consists of $2.4 billion in transfer payments from the federal government.

In his budget speech, Kusugak touted the $580 million the GN plans to allocate to health care this coming fiscal year, which he said is a $66-million increase in spending for the Health Department. That includes $25 million for paramedic services — an $11.5 million increase — and $134 million for out-of-territory hospital and physician services, an increase of $20.4 million.

The budget also increases spending on elder care, community health centres and travel for health-care workers.

The Department of Family Services will see a nearly $33.5-million funding increase through the operations budget, bringing its total to $228.5 million.

Much of that “is to address the department’s perennial operations and maintenance deficit,” Kusugak said in his speech.

Other departments set to spend more on their operations include Education at $289.5 million, up from $279.7 million, and Nunavut Housing Corp. at $285 million, an increase over last year’s $269.3 million.

The budget also factors in the two new government departments that are set to be established this year.

The new Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will have a $262-million operating budget.

The Department of Community Services will operate with $162 million and include the establishment of Service Nunavut, a “one-stop shop” where residents will be able to access government services, Kusugak said in his speech.

These two departments will replace the departments of Community and Government Services, as well as Economic Development and Transportation. The change takes effect April 1, the start of the government’s new fiscal year.

This is the final budget Kusugak will table as part of the current government ahead of the Oct. 27 territorial election.

“It’s never easy to be dealing with trying to put a budget together,” Kusugak said to reporters.

“It would be important to make sure that we at least get most, if not all, the things we want to get done before … before the next eight months are up.”