Nova Scotia·NewAn order-in-council this week increased the province’s borrowing capacity for the Municipal Fund, a pot of money municipalities can tap into for low-cost loans to help pay for infrastructure projects and equipment, including paving, water and sewer upgrades, fire trucks and snowplows.The Municipal Fund is increasing to $1.5B from $995MMichael Gorman · CBC News · Posted: Oct 14, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 31 minutes agoJohn Lohr is Nova Scotia’s finance minister and minister of municipal affairs. (Dave Laughlin/CBC)The bank of the Nova Scotia government is getting reinforced.An order-in-council this week increased the province’s borrowing capacity for the Municipal Fund, a pot of money municipalities can tap into for low-cost loans to help pay for infrastructure projects and equipment, including paving, water and sewer upgrades, fire trucks and snowplows.That pot is increasing for the first time since 2013, moving from $995 million to $1.5 billion.“It’s a recognition of the ongoing demands that our municipalities face, the fact that costs are going up and the reality that in a growing province there’s always more of all of these things needed,” John Lohr, the province’s finance minister and municipal affairs minister, said in an interview.Aging infrastructure ‘off the charts’The fund provides municipalities with loans at the province’s borrowing rate plus a service charge. Most municipal loans are typically repaid over 10 to 20 years. Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood, who is also president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, said councils are facing increased demands for infrastructure such as water and sewer as they try to support more housing development.Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood says councils are facing increased demands for infrastructure. (Paul Poirier/CBC)But along with those demands, there are also the realities of what’s been happening since the fund was last increased.“We have aging infrastructure that is just off the charts,” she said in an interview.“I don’t think there’s one person in this province that doesn’t understand the rising costs in absolutely everything. So I think this is rising up to meet not just the demand but it’s coming in line with the cost of everything that we have to tap into.”Province to continue to be the bankMood said municipal officials aren’t looking to borrow money unless they need to, but knowing there is going to be greater capacity in the fund brings a level of comfort for times when they do need help financing a project, she added.Lohr said the province intends to continue being the bank for municipalities “for a long time to come” so it makes sense to increase capacity to be able to meet ongoing needs into the future.Along with access to loans, Lohr’s government has provided about $250 million in the last four years to municipalities to help with infrastructure project efforts, he said.MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORMichael Gorman covers the Nova Scotia legislature for CBC, with additional focuses on health care and rural communities. Contact him with story ideas at michael.gorman@cbc.ca
N.S. government boosts loan access for municipalities by $500M
