Budget 2026 Delivers Opportunity For All of Us (813 KB)
Finance
April 29, 2026
Budget 2026 Delivers Opportunity For All of Us
Better health care, lower taxes and safer communities are the key commitments for Premier Wakeham and his government with the release of Budget 2026: Opportunity for All of Us.
Today, the Honourable Craig Pardy, Minister of Finance, released details of the government’s first budget, delivering a speech that reinforces the goverment’s priorities and reflects a sharp focus on thoughtful decision-making and spending smarter.
Investments
Budget 2026 outlines a new vision for the province, building on the pillars that have resonated strongly with Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. In addition to the $45 million announced by Premier Wakeham to minimize the impact of Newfoundland Power’s rate increase planned for July 1, this budget supports individuals and families through the following:
Lower Taxes
- Over $200 million across the fiscal forecast, for targeted relief from the affordability challenges facing residents.
- Saving consumers $67 million annually by permanently reducing the provincial tax on gasoline to the lowest in Canada.
- Increasing the basic personal amount exempt from income tax to $15,000, saving 285,000 taxpayers hundreds of dollars per year.
- Doubling the Volunteer Firefighter and Search and Rescue Tax Credits to $6,000.
- Increasing the Newfoundland and Labrador Seniors’ Benefit by 20 per cent, benefitting nearly 50,000 seniors.
- Providing the Newfoundland and Labrador Child Benefit to 3,000 additional children, and increasing support to the 3,000 children already receiving the benefit.
- Saving consumers $12 million annually by extending the Home Heating Supplement Program for those with an adjusted family income of $150,000 or less that use furnace or stove oil to heat their homes.
- Saving consumers $25 million by extending the reduction in registration fees for passenger vehicles, light-weight trucks and taxis by 50 per cent in 2026.
- Reducing the Small Business Tax Rate to 2 per cent as of January 1, 2026, 1.5 per cent on January 1, 2027, and 1 per cent on January 1, 2028, to support over 6,000 small businesses in the province.
Better Health Care
- Investing a total of $5.4 billion in better health care.
- Almost $8 million to train and recruit more local nurses and nurse practitioners. This includes additional support to ensure existing seats are filled and students complete their training.
- $7 million for new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines in Grand Falls-Windsor and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
- $6.5 million to implement a provincial nursing travel team to reduce reliance on agency nurses.
- $5 million to provide paid work-terms for students pursuing health care careers in hard-to-fill areas.
- Approximately $19 million to enable 100 per cent coverage of eligible medical travel costs. This includes $3.7 million in new funding.
- $3.5 million to help recruit and retain more doctors, this includes more ER doctors for our small communities.
Safer Communities
- $250 million to continue to support thousands of kilometres of new paving, culverts and bridge construction.
- More than $184 million to support municipalities through programs and initiatives that help them grow stronger and more vibrant.
- $17 million to create safer roadways, which includes $3 million for 24-hour snow clearing, $14 million for brush clearing, road signage, culvert replacement, road patching and moose fencing.
- Over $11 million to enhance court services.
- $9 million annualized to hire 46 new police officers over two years.
- More than $7 million in additional funding to assist volunteer firefighters in responding to emergencies.
- $1 million in Budget 2026, and continuing in future years, for a phased expansion of cellular coverage across the province.
- More than $1 million to create 14 new positions in Public Prosecutions, which includes six new Crown Attorneys, as well as funding for digital modernization to better manage criminal matters before the courts.
For more information on the fiscal overview and economic outlook, please see below. Additionally, more detailed information on Budget 2026 is available online at gov.nl.ca/budget2026.
Quote
“It is with great pride that I deliver your new government’s first budget to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. We are steadfast in our commitment to improving the overall quality of life for residents by making everyday living more affordable. We are equally committed to strengthening communities, and this budget is reflective of that, with a focus on lower taxes, better health care, and safer communities. I strongly believe that the road ahead is full of opportunity – for all of us.”
Honourable Craig Pardy
Minister of Finance
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gov.nl.ca/Budget2026
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Media contact
Kathryn Summers
Finance
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Kathrynsummers@gov.nl.ca
Information on Fiscal Overview and Economic Outlook
Fiscal Overview
- Projected deficit of $688.5 million for 2026-27.
- Projected revenues for 2026-27 are $10.8 billion.
- Projected expenses for 2026-27 are $11.5 billion, which represents just a 1.1 per cent increase over the previous fiscal year.
- Of the $11.5 billion in expenses, just over $544 million is 100 per cent federally funded.
- Net debt is expected to be $20.8 billion in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
- Projected borrowing requirement for 2026-27 is $3.9 billion.
- The Department of Finance’s oil price assumption is $US79 per barrel and Finance’s CAD/USD exchange rate assumption is 0.741. These assumptions are informed by 11 Brent oil price forecasters and eight CAD/USD exchange rate forecasters.
- Oil royalties in 2026-27 are expected to represent 19 per cent of overall revenues.
Economic Outlook
- Newfoundland and Labrador’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is forecast to increase by 5.5 per cent in 2026, driven primarily by higher oil and mineral production. This is expected to be the highest forecast growth in real GDP of every province in Canada.
- Total employment is forecast to increase by 0.2 per cent in 2026.
- Population is projected to remain steady in 2026 as growth moderates from recent years, largely due to reductions in federal immigration levels.
- Retail sales are expected to increase by 3.1 per cent in 2026, reflecting income growth and lower taxes.
- Consumer inflation is forecast to average 2.7 per cent in 2026, as the conflict in the Middle East puts upward pressure on energy prices.
- Household disposable income is projected to increase by 2.6 per cent in 2026, mainly due to increases in wages, income-tested benefits, and lower taxes.