Focusing on ‘the big three’
Finance minister says priority areas will remain health, housing, affordability
The Progressive Conservative government of Premier Dennis King has tabled a $3.2-billion budget as it predicts that population growth will ease from the four per cent growth seen in the last year to 2.6 per cent by 2025.
The 2024-2025 budget, tabled in the legislature on Feb. 29, includes a seven per cent increase in overall spending compared to last year’s budget.
The budget includes millions more for many priorities previously announced by the King government, including expansion of collaborative medical homes, funding for a Memorial University faculty of medicine satellite campus at UPEI and for expansion of affordable housing programs.
The budget also includes the creation of a new P.E.I. children’s benefit – a new payment modelled after the Trudeau government’s Canada Child Benefit.
The budget projects a deficit of $85 million, which is projected to shrink to $31 million by April 2027.
Speaking to reporters at a media briefing on Thursday in advance of reading the budget in the legislature,
Finance Minister Jill Burridge said the budget hopes to meet the needs of a growing population while ensuring the province lives within its means.
“We have our ceiling. We have to stay within what we can afford,” Burridge said.
“So that is the fence that we put around. And we know that health care, housing and affordability are the big three. And so you will see that reflected in how we're spending our money."
Burridge said the province’s spending in the coming years is anticipated to keep the province’s debt to GDP ratio below 30 per cent, with this year’s ratio coming in at 29 per cent.
The province has acknowledged in recent days that government services have not been keeping pace with the province’s growing population. A population framework released last week said the
province’s population increased by 6,707 people last year.
The province anticipates the population will grow by around 4,500 people yearly over the next three years.
P.E.I. CHILD BENEFIT
The new P.E.I. child benefit will be a quarterly payment that will begin in January 2025 for Island households with children. Families with a net household income of $80,000 per year will be eligible for the payment.
Department of Finance staff said a two-children household with a net income of up to $45,000 would be eligible for $720 annually.
The program mirrors the federal Canada Child Benefit, which has been credited by some experts as helping pull hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty.
Under the Canada Child Benefit, families with a child can receive up to $7,437 per year.
Burridge said the program was aimed as an affordability initiative for Island families.
“You hear in the news, you hear everywhere that families are struggling, working families are struggling. So, if we can provide help to those families, we will," Burridge said.
The budget also included a commitment to reduce income taxes paid by Islanders. A $14.6 million allocation will raise the basic personal amount from $13,500 in 2024 to $14,250 in 2025.
In the April 2023 election campaign, King pledged that investments in patient medical homes would provide a primary caregiver for all Islanders on the patient registry. On Feb. 29, that number was more than 36,000.
The budget includes $10.5 million in new funding for medical homes, bringing the total investment to $25.8 million.
Saltwire asked if this would be enough to provide a family doctor to 36,000 Islanders on the registry by April 2025.
“That's the mandate. That's the promise that's out there.
So, we're delivering the investment,” Burridge said.
When asked if this would meet the goal of providing all Islanders a doctor or primary caregiver, Burridge said the budget provides investments to “ensure that does get up and running.”
"There's a considerable health-care investment and patient medical homes really is our corner stone. What we're hearing is that's what's attracting a lot of doctors, is that environment,” Burridge said.
The budget also included $6.9 million in new funding to move the Community Outreach Centre to Park Street and to expand the existing emergency shelter in Charlottetown.
It also included $10 million to expand community housing programs. Budget documents said this would keep existing affordable housing units in the market through cooperation with non-profits and co-operatives.
The budget also included a $3.1-million commitment to raise social assistance and Accessability supports in March 2024 and again in 2025.
In 2021, the P.E.I. legislature adopted a commitment to end chronic homelessness in the province by 2025.
When asked if these allocations were enough to meet those commitments, Burridge said the investments were planned for a wide array of housing programs.
“The investments are being made not only on the emergency side but also helping the emergency shelters transition folks that may not need to be there anymore into the next step of housing," Burridge said.