Provincial and Territorial Update – June 19, 2026
An overview on Provincial and Territorial updates for the week of June 19, 2026. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, who died on Wednesday evening at the age of 92, is being remembered as a trailblazer in New Brunswick and a devoted friend. In addition to serving as the province’s lieutenant-governor, Trenholme Counsell held many roles, including as a family physician, an MLA, a cabinet minister, a senator and a longtime advocate for literacy in New Brunswick.
- The New Brunswick government is ending its agreement with Medavie Health Services New Brunswick, under which the private company offered primary care services to people waiting for their own provider. The province will shift the service, N.B. Health Link, to the two regional health authorities, Horizon Health and Vitalité.
- The New Brunswick government waited more than a day before informing the public that a chemical spill across 14 kilometres of highway in Fredericton contained a carcinogenic compound, according to documents obtained by CBC News. The documents, obtained through a right-to-information request, show that Department of Environment staff knew the spill on and around the Vanier Highway contained hexavalent chromium as early as about 1 p.m. on March 6.
- Literacy targets in all anglophone and francophone schools in New Brunswick are now about 20 per cent lower than they were just a year ago. But Education Minister Claire Johnson says the literacy standard in the province has not changed. Literacy targets represent the proportion of students who pass literacy assessments. Historically, they have been set at between 80 per cent and 90 per cent, depending on what’s being assessed. “We missed those targets, we missed them again and again and again,” Johnson said in an interview about the province’s response to the results.
Nova Scotia
- The leader of Nova Scotia’s Opposition said the case of a Halifax woman who arrived home to find her apartment building being demolished shows protections are lacking for Nova Scotian renters. “It’s just evidence of how terrible our housing market is and how unbalanced our protections are for the third of Nova Scotians who rent,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender told reporters Thursday. Chender said there is a clear need for bigger deterrents to so-called “demovictions,” adding that the current residential tenancies program the province relies on to settle rental disputes is failing both tenants and landlords.
- The federal government has been advised to consider closing the snow crab fishery off eastern Cape Breton after a recent stock assessment showed the population there is in the “critical zone.” Jae Choi, a Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientist who has studied the species for 20 years, said the number of small young crabs has decreased, possibly due to a combination of factors, such as increased predation, rising water temperatures, and a lack of cover for crabs to hide in the area.
- As artificial intelligence data centres pop up across North America, the energy-sucking facilities are not something Nova Scotia is “actively pursuing,” said Premier Tim Houston on Thursday. Asked whether his government would ever consider approving such a project, Houston said the province’s current energy availability would be a limiting factor. “This discussion’s so far in the future,” he told reporters following a cabinet meeting in Halifax. “There wouldn’t be a commitment to a data centre unless we could fully supply the energy without any risk to Nova Scotians. We wouldn’t put Nova Scotians’ grid at risk and we wouldn’t put their health at risk.”
- Nova Scotia’s housing minister says the creation of special planning areas to spur housing development has been a success, despite only 536 of 63,000 planned units being completed so far. The government first announced 11 of the sites in 2022, with the intention of speeding up the approval process to build more housing. There are now 16 special planning area (SPA) sites. Housing Minister John White told reporters Thursday following a cabinet meeting that he believes progress is being made.
Prince Edward Island
- Officials with Prince Edward Island’s school boards say they are facing growing pressure to meet students’ needs as demand for educational assistants continues to rise. At a legislative standing committee meeting on Thursday, officials with the French-language school board told MLAs there are not enough educational assistants, leaving some students without the supports they need. Ghislain Bernard, director of La Commission scolaire de langue française, said the board works closely with its student services team to identify needs and then looks for funding to address them.
- Prince Edward Island’s government is making it more difficult for non-residents to purchase multiple properties in the province. An amendment to the Lands Protection Act will close a loophole that allowed non-residents to buy property as long as it’s one acre or less. Soon, if someone who isn’t from P.E.I. wants to buy another property of less than an acre, the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission will have oversight of the transaction.
- Cornwall will have its first long-term care facility with 80 new beds by April 2029, the Prince Edward Island government announced Thursday. The Mount Continuing Care Community has been awarded the contract for the build. Once the home opens, the province will provide up to $9.8 million a year to help offset accommodation costs for residents. The government is also supporting the construction and operation of the facility through a 30-year agreement that covers residents’ medical costs and provides accommodation subsidies.
- A byelection will be held in District 16, Cornwall-Meadowbank, on July 13, Prince Edward Island Premier Rob Lantz announced Tuesday. Cornwall-Meadowbank was previously held by former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Mark McLane, who died in March at age 56. Lantz called the byelection at the Cornwall Curling Club moments after the P.E.I. PCs nominated their candidate for the district, registered massage therapist Caley McDonald.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- Tony Wakeham’s government is maintaining its silence days after the Innu Nation accused it of “erasure” over a now-cancelled exhibit days before it was scheduled to open. Earlier this week, the planned opening of the Innu Pakassiun exhibit at the Labrador Interpretation Centre in North West River was cancelled. It was meant to open on National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21. The exhibit’s cancellation stems from a dispute over the timeline of Innu history in the region, with the N.L. government capping it at 300 years, contrary to the group’s claim that it was far longer.
- An advocate is applauding a provincial court judge banning a man with a history of intimate partner violence from entering two communities on Newfoundland’s west coast — but only time will tell if it works. In a sentencing decision dated June 12, Judge Wayne Gorman barred a man, only referred to as DM, from entering Corner Brook or Mount Moriah as part of a probation order which comes into effect when he is released from prison. The banishment is in addition to a 12-month incarceration and three years of probation.
- Equinor has told investors it will decide in early 2027 whether it will proceed with its proposed Bay du Nord oil project off the east coast of Newfoundland. Geir Tungesvik, an executive vice-president with the Norwegian energy company, described Bay du Nord as a “basin opener” with a reserve of 550 million barrels of recoverable oil. That’s up from recent estimates of 430 million barrels, and nearly double initial estimates of 300 million barrels. Tungesvik made the remarks Tuesday during Equinor’s Capital Markets Day presentation, and he said the company decided to develop two of its five discoveries in the Bay du Nord area.
- While Liberal MP Philip Earle says he is supportive of federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson, he just isn’t supporting her when it comes to the recently announced quota allocations for northern cod off Newfoundland and Labrador. He wants a greater percentage of the total allowable catch (TAC) to be dedicated to Indigenous rights holders and more to fishing enterprises based in Labrador. He said he’s lobbied the minister in recent days to that effect.
Quebec
- Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette followed in her predecessor’s footsteps on Monday when asked whether systemic racism exists in the province. Fréchette refused to use the term when addressing the investigation underway at Montréal-Nord’s Station 39, where 16 police officers are being investigated following allegations of racist and discriminatory behaviour against Black and Arab residents in the borough.
- Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette announced on Friday morning that her government is launching a call for tenders for a virtual waiting room and teleconsultation pilot project to modernize access to health care. During the announcement, the premier also did not dispel rumours that she could stand as a candidate in the riding of Trois-Rivières in the next election. According to Fréchette, an initial pilot project for a virtual waiting room is set to be rolled out in the Lanaudière region “in the coming months.” A patient who has been assessed and triaged will be able to return home while retaining their place in line rather than staying in the hospital if their condition is deemed non-urgent.
- The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), Charles Milliard, is putting the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ) on notice over comments Paul St-Pierre Plamondon made linking the PLQ to organized crime on the last day of the legislature before the fall elections. On Friday, St-Pierre Plamondon used the discussion on the ongoing investigation by Quebec’s anti-corruption unit into the PLQ’s 2025 leadership race as a springboard to raise questions around the PLQ’s funding. He said that, though there is no evidence, the theory that some of the party’s money came from organized crime is “legitimate and logical.”
- Paramedics who are members of unions affiliated with the CSN will step up their pressure tactics. Starting next Tuesday, they will refuse to work overtime in certain regions of Quebec. The affected regions will be the Southern Laurentians and Lanaudière, Greater Trois-Rivières, Portneuf, the National Capital Region, Charlevoix, as well as the Middle and Lower North Shore, the union specified. The Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS), affiliated with the CSN—to which these unions belong—intends to proceed in stages. This refusal to work overtime could therefore spread to other regions in the future.
Ontario
- A Canadian polling firm has sent Doug Ford a legal letter demanding the premier correct the record after he claimed the organization published a “fake” public opinion survey showing his personal approval rating at a record low level. The Angus Reid Institute’s quarterly cross-country temperature check of premiers’ approval ratings revealed Ford has dropped to 21 per cent support, making him the least popular provincial leader in the country. Asked about the poll on Tuesday, Ford claimed it was “fake,” suggesting it had been based on the views of opposition politicians.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford is facing criticism for comparing the coming Thunder Bay Correctional Centre to a Four Seasons Hotel, less than a week after an inquest into the death of an inmate at the century-old Thunder Bay Jail. Kevin Mamakwa, a member of Kingfisher Lake First Nation and the nephew of Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, died in 2020. The recently completed inquest yielded 22 recommendations, all aimed at Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General.
- There will be no rubber-stamping of Premier Doug Ford’s nominees to roles on influential agencies, boards and commissions during the Ontario legislature’s summer break — despite the government’s fight to shut down the opposition grilling. Instead, Speaker Donna Skelly ended a procedural battle between the Tories and opposition parties Thursday with a ruling that ultimately upholds the Liberals’ and New Democrats’ quest to meet during the five-month break.
- Premier Doug Ford’s government is on pace to sit for the fewest days of any Ontario government over the past five decades in a year when voters aren’t headed to the polls. As a result, experts warn the decision to shorten the calendar at Queen’s Park comes with its strategic benefits — and pitfalls — for the Tories as the legislature settles into a 21-week break. Earlier this month, the Progressive Conservatives adjourned the House after a shortened 30-day sitting in which it passed a flurry of omnibus bills, including controversial changes to freedom of information legislation and a bill to take over Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport.
Manitoba
- Premier Wab Kinew cast doubt Thursday on the prospect of Manitoba approving a second effort by mining company Sio Silica to obtain an environmental licence to drill for sand in the rural municipality of Springfield. In an interview with radio station CJOB, Kinew said he doesn’t know how the province can separate a forthcoming public inquiry into Sio Silica’s actions from the province’s pending decision to approve the mining company’s licence. “I don’t know how you would,” Kinew said Thursday in the interview.
- A poll of Winnipeg voters suggests roughly half the electorate doesn’t want to see Scott Gillingham serve another term as mayor — but fewer than one in 10 believe anyone else can do much better trying to alleviate the city’s homelessness and addictions crisis. A Probe Research poll of 600 Winnipeg adults, conducted on behalf of the Winnipeg Free Press in late May and early June, found 46 per cent of voters in the Manitoba capital didn’t want Gillingham to be re-elected this fall. Only 19 per cent of survey respondents wanted Gillingham to serve a second term, while 36 per cent weren’t sure.
- As acres of agricultural land remained underwater Thursday, one Manitoba dairy farmer estimates some producers in the Interlake region have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars since flash flooding hit the area over a week ago. “As individual farmers, we’ve all lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and some of us most likely lost millions,” Brian Boonstra said. He operates a dairy farm in the rural municipality of Woodlands alongside his brother Rob Boonstra.
- A ruling denying a cancer patient’s bid to keep their health-care coverage in Manitoba after turning 18 is a symptom of broader systemic barriers preventing immigrants from accessing care, advocates say. The Manitoba Health Appeal Board rejected a request from a high school student with leukemia to keep their health benefits, as current regulations won’t allow it until they obtain a work permit. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said they’ve been in direct contact with the family for several months and that the province will continue to support them, calling the situation “heartbreaking.”
Saskatchewan
- Danielle Rhodes and her husband Brendon are trying to grow their family by having another child, but she says upcoming changes to Saskatchewan’s affordable daycare program could prevent that. The couple lives in Moosomin, 211 kilometres east of Regina. Their four-year-old son Lincoln attends Playfair Daycare, the town’s only child-care centre. Starting July 1, the province is changing its funding structure for Saskatchewan’s $10-a-day child-care program. Playfair Daycare estimates those changes could lead to an $892,000 loss in annual revenue. Its director is worried it could be forced to close.
- Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall says she will resign from her Yorkton-Melville seat on Aug. 31, 2026 — earlier than she had previously planned. “I rise today to give my last speech in this place, having been here since 2015,” she said Wednesday in her final speech in the House of Commons. In a social media post on X, Wagantall said she originally intended to represent the riding until the next federal election, but decided to leave at the end of August instead. She did not provide a reason for the change of plans. Wagantall has represented the southeastern Saskatchewan riding since 2015, winning it across four election cycles. Her early departure will trigger a byelection in the riding.
- Candyce Paul says she remembers the provincial government’s lack of support in her community’s hour of need. Paul is the emergency management co-ordinator for English River First Nation, one of the Saskatchewan communities hit hard by wildfire last summer. “There was nothing available in the region to address the fire when it first took off,” she said. “It took out 350,000 hectares of forest, put numerous communities at risk and caused millions of dollars in evacuation costs and operational costs.”
- In Saskatchewan, Bell Canada is building a $1.7-billion, 300-megawatt centre near Regina in the RM of Sherwood. Saskatoon also wants in, and the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce is making the case. CEO Jason Aebig says the chamber has been working to position Saskatoon as a major data centre hub in the province — citing the Bell project in a March news release as the model to follow. “Data centres, I think, now are widely considered to be critical infrastructure like roads or power grids,” Aebig told CBC’s Saskatoon Morning, adding the data centres have less to do with the jobs running them and more with what they make possible.
Alberta
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Wednesday that a group of First Nations chiefs need to “check themselves,” after they accused her of potential treasonous activity for calling a separation vote. The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs, representing First Nations across Alberta, unanimously voted this week to ask the RCMP to look into whether the province’s fall referendum amounts to criminal treason by Smith and her United Conservative Party. The chiefs, in a news release, said organizing the vote is an intentional treaty violation and that Smith’s government is ignoring serious risks to Canada’s sovereignty.
- Albertans who apply for $100 payments from the province could see the money land in their bank accounts within two weeks of applying. Premier Danielle Smith has said her government is doling out affordability payments instead of reducing the gasoline tax at the pumps. Smith says cuts to gas taxes don’t always get passed on to consumers, so the payments are the best way to help Albertans with the high cost of living.
- About 35 people rallied today at a Calgary hotel ballroom to formally launch a campaign to convince Albertans in an upcoming referendum that its time to quit Canada. The campaign is called “Let Alberta Decide.” Organizers promise it will be a serious, fact-based initiative to persuade people that Alberta has the workforce, the financial wherewithal, and the energy and agriculture resources to go it alone. The people behind it include Keith Wilson, a prominent separatist advocate who recently made a case for leaving Canada in debates with former Alberta premier Jason Kenney.
- The executive director of Premier Danielle Smith’s office says that instead of criticizing her, First Nations chiefs should fix their own communities, describing them as entrenched in poverty, drugs and violence. Bruce McAllister, in a post on social media Thursday, says the chiefs should focus on their own problems rather than having “the gall” to accuse the premier of treason over Alberta’s looming separation referendum. McAllister accused the chiefs of engaging in “childish nonsense” and said their misaligned priorities make him wonder if they’re taking orders from someone else. “People are sick and tired of hearing unrealistic demands from them,” McAllister writes.
British Columbia
- Ottawa and the province are setting up a $5-billion fund that municipalities can tap into to pay for new homes, and the infrastructure and transit needed to keep up with growing communities. But there are strings attached. Municipalities must lower the fees that developers pay to local governments, which the prime minister and British Columbia’s premier say can hinder new construction. “That means lower upfront costs, greater certainty for builders, and more affordable homes for you to buy or rent,” Carney said alongside Premier David Eby during Thursday’s announcement in Vancouver.
- While British Columbians may not know much about the Conservative Party of B.C.’s new leader, a recent poll has found the opposition party has the most support in the province. But many remain undecided. The Angus Reid poll published Tuesday showed 33% of British Columbians polled would vote for the Conservative Party if the election was held tomorrow, compared with 26% who said they’d vote for the NDP. A further 28% of respondents said they are currently undecided. While the Conservative Party appears to be the most popular option at this time, 89% of respondents said they know little or nothing about new BC Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
- Appearing frustrated that the question was raised by the media during Tuesday evening’s celebratory FIFA World Cup press conference in Vancouver, B.C. Premier David Eby addressed the elephant in the room: the provincial government’s latest update on the long-awaited project to build the new George Massey Tunnel. On Monday, the provincial government announced it had exercised the termination option in its preliminary agreement with the European-led contractor that was selected almost exactly two years ago to design and build a new eight-lane immersed tube tunnel to replace the aging, seismically vulnerable, four-lane, counterflow-controlled George Massey Tunnel.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal and B.C. governments are pledging $100 million each to build a new high school in Tumbler Ridge and modernize the community’s health care centre. B.C. Premier David Eby promised last month that students wouldn’t have to return to the school, which was the site of a mass shooting in February. The prime minister says he and the premier were in Tumbler Ridge after the murders of eight people and heard from students, parents, teachers and first responders.
Northwest Territories
- The union representing workers at Yellowknife’s Stanton Territorial Hospital says violence against health staff appears to be on the rise. But the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) can’t say for sure, because the territorial government has stopped notifying the union about such incidents. Violence against health workers has been an issue at the hospital in years past, and UNW president Gayla Thunstrom told CBC News in an email that she’s hearing from members that things have not improved — though the union has no statistics.
Yukon
- The Yukon Hospital Corporation (YHC) wrote to the territorial health minister warning of pressure points that remain “unfunded” amid a $2.5-million operating deficit, just days after the Yukon Party government tabled its first full budget this spring. The Yukon Hospital Corporation leadership’s letter to Health Minister Brad Cathers said the corporation found two key areas that aren’t properly funded: ongoing spikes in utility, supply, and system costs, as well as a business case designed to address rising patient volumes and capacity constraints.
Nunavut
- Seated inside Nanook School in Iqaluit, Nunavut’s education minister David Akeeagok gives his assessment of Nunavut’s new school curriculum. “It is going very well, and a lot of planning and preparation has taken place in order for this to be implemented,” he said. “The rollout has been phenomenal with our wonderful teachers.” The new curriculum centres Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit principles and was developed with the help of elders. Each year, the new curriculum will be introduced to another grade, until it’s fully implemented up to Grade 12 in 2036. Akeeagok said the curriculum for grades 7 to 12 is still being developed, with a draft being worked on.