Provincial and Territorial Update – November 22, 2025
An overview on Provincial and Territorial updates for the week of November 22, 2025. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- A special levy charged to consumers at New Brunswick fuel pumps to help oil companies pay for tightening federal clean-fuel standards is scheduled to be cancelled by the New Brunswick government on Dec. 1, but that change promises to be temporary. Natural Resources Minister John Herron said the regulation of petroleum prices in New Brunswick allows companies to recover all of their costs. He said this applies to the federal clean-fuel standards and will require a new charge to replace at least part of what is being cancelled.
- Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says New Brunswickers shouldn’t get their hopes up about progress on the Sisson Mine. The proposed tungsten and molybdenum mine north of Fredericton, stalled for more than a decade, was one of the projects the Carney government sent to its Major Projects Office last week. “Don’t expect much,” Poilievre warned during a CBC News interview after a tour of Atlantic Modern Homes Ltd., a Fredericton homebuilder.
- A four-year, $270 million agreement between the province and the organization that represents doctors will help ensure all New Brunswickers have a primary care provider and access to care within five days, according to Premier Susan Holt. The agreement includes compensation increases of up to 12.5 per cent over the four years, with the largest increases going to doctors who choose to work in a collaborative-care-clinic model, Holt told a news conference in Fredericton on Thursday.
- N.B. Power says it’s not alarmed by the electricity needs of a proposed data centre in the Lorneville area of Saint John, but will be looking for flexibility from such plants on their consumption. A senior executive at the Crown utility also says there is no link between the proposed 400-megawatt natural gas plant it wants to see built in Tantramar and the data centre’s need for 190 megawatts.
Nova Scotia
- The Nova Scotia government will bid on the assets of Northern Pulp, which include extensive timberlands, CBC News has confirmed. Potential bidders had a deadline of Nov. 20 to declare their intentions. Government officials confirmed the plan, but provided no other details. On Friday, an official clarified that the province’s bid would cover only 162,000 hectares of timberlands, along with a nursery and seed orchard in Debert.
- Defence Minister David McGuinty opened a conference on global security Friday by warning that the world’s complex security environment has become more dangerous than at any time since the Cold War. “The rules-based international order, which has supported decades of stability and decades of unprecedented prosperity, is being challenged on multiple fronts,” he told a news conference as the Halifax International Security Forum began three days of discussions.
- Premier Tim Houston is in Boston this week to speak at a major cross-border energy conference and meet with U.S. officials and industry leaders as Nova Scotia continues to position itself in the offshore wind, natural gas and critical minerals sectors. Houston is serving as a keynote speaker at the 33rd annual U.S.-Canada Executive Energy Conference, an event drawing more than 200 senior executives, policy-makers and researchers from both countries.
- Nova Scotia Finance Minister John Lohr says the province’s projected $1.2-billion deficit is factoring into every decision the government makes. As the finance department works to build the 2026-27 budget, the province has introduced a new staffing directive, looking to eliminate jobs when new hires are brought in to fill departmental vacancies. “For every position they fill, they have to eliminate a position,” said Lohr during a scrum with reporters last week. “So it’s a two-for-one. And it will be in place for the foreseeable future.”
Prince Edward Island
- With flu season beginning in Prince Edward Island, there are some concerns being raised around whether the influenza vaccine protects against a developing strain of H3N2. Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.’s chief public health officer, told CBC’s Island Morning that H3N2 is not a new flu variant, but it is spreading with a mutation that could make current vaccines less effective at fighting it. The flu shot protects against three strains that typically circulate in Canada — two influenza A strains, H3N2 and H1N1, and the influenza B strain.
- Four people are running in a byelection next month to fill a vacant seat in the P.E.I. Legislature for District 2, Georgetown-Pownal. The seat was left vacant after the resignation of former provincial housing minister Steven Myers in October. Nominations closed at 2 p.m. Friday, and each of the four main political parties on the Island has confirmed candidates for the Dec. 8 vote.
- The P.E.I. Greens are urging the government to expropriate the Evergreen Village property in Summerside in order to help the neighbourhood’s residents who fear the loss of their homes. In question period Thursday, Green Leader Matt MacFarlane asked Housing Minister Cory Deagle whether government would expropriate the Summerside mobile home park, considering negotiations to purchase it have allegedly fallen apart. Deagle said it’s not that simple.
- P.E.I.’s health minister says the doors to a new community health centre in Summerside should be open early next year, but a backbench Progressive Conservative MLA worries about how the government is going to find doctors to work there. Summerside-Wilmot PC MLA Tyler DesRoches said people in his community have been watching the transformation of a former trade school site on the city’s Granville Street for the past several years. Demolition and construction work to build the new community health centre on that site has been underway since 2022.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- A second massive housing development in the east end of St. John’s is moving on to the next phase. The Canada Lands Company (CLC), a federal Crown corporation, has announced plans to add up to 1,000 homes in the Pleasantville area. Christopher Sweetnam Holmes, Atlantic and Quebec senior director of real estate with CLC, said new residents could move in as early as 2028.“We have zoning in place, and we already have some services here on this site,” Holmes said in an interview at the location of the future development — currently an empty field.
- After a recount that started early Tuesday morning and continued into Friday, Elections Newfoundland and Labrador says the district of Topsail-Paradise will remain in the hands of the Progressive Conservatives, represented by Paul Dinn. In an email on Friday afternoon, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer announced Dinn as the winner with 3,029 votes. That’s two fewer votes than what was initially counted on election night. Liberal candidate Dan Bobbett had 2,923 votes.
- The Progressive Conservative government says it’s committed to helping residents in Conception Bay North rebuild after a summer of devastating wildfires, and it started by extending housing assistance for those who lost their homes. The temporary housing assistance program was put in place by the previous Liberal government in August. It offered $1,000 per month for households who could stay in private accommodations, like with family and friends, if their primary residence was uninhabitable, and $1,500 per month if they had to rent somewhere to live.
- Seniors in the province are worse off than their counterparts anywhere else in Canada, according to a new report from Newfoundland and Labrador’s seniors’ advocate. Susan Walsh released her second report on key well-being indicators for seniors in Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday. It says the province has the highest percentage of seniors in Canada, with 24.6 per cent of the population being aged 65 or older. It also says the number of seniors in N.L. with access to a primary health-care provider dropped to the lowest percentage in the country.
Quebec
- Quebec Premier François Legault and Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada held their first official meeting Friday morning at Montreal City Hall, using the occasion to share their vision for working together on major issues facing the city. A key focus of the meeting was their joint push to bring the newly created Defence, Security and Resilience Bank to Montreal. The international organization would finance and coordinate projects related to that field.
- Quebec Liberal Party leader Pablo Rodriguez announced on Friday that his political party would issue a legal notice to the Journal de Montréal following the publication of text messages concerning his leadership. Le Journal de Montréal revealed messages suggesting that members who supported Rodriguez during the race received cash rewards. However, the article did not name the individuals behind these text messages. The Liberal leader said he wanted to know the names of the people involved and the phone numbers associated with the text messages. He also wants the Journal de Montréal to explain how it verified the “authenticity and veracity” of these messages.
- MNA Marwah Rizqy has been suspended from the Liberal caucus and stripped of her parliamentary leadership duties due to a “breach of trust.” Liberal leader Pablo Rodriguez made the announcement Tuesday morning in a press release following the dismissal of Rizqy’s former chief of staff, who is close to Rodriguez. The leader’s press release states that the Saint-Laurent MNA fired Geneviève Hinse “without consulting the leader and without providing an explanation.”
- Opposition MNA Vincent Marissal has quit Québec Solidaire following a unanimous vote by its caucus to suspend him. The vote was called Saturday morning after the party learned he had been in discussions with Parti Québécois Leader Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon about running as a PQ candidate in the 2026 election. “I have great, great respect for my ex-colleagues, most of them, but the fact is that I don’t feel that I can work any longer with Québec Solidaire,” he said Saturday morning in Montreal from his constituency office in Rosemount.
Ontario
- The leader of Ontario’s Official Opposition was kicked out of question period Wednesday morning after calling Premier Doug Ford’s government “corrupt,” a sentiment Marit Stiles later doubled down on outside the Queen’s Park chamber. Stiles made the comment as the opposition continued to hammer Labour Minister David Piccini over the scandal-plagued Skills Development Fund. The auditor general found Piccini’s office has been heavily involved in selecting projects under the $2.5-billion fund and handed out money to applicants ranked low by bureaucrats.’
- The Ford government says it’s considering taking control of the Real Estate Council of Ontario, the watchdog that oversees realtors and brokerages across the province, after an explosive audit criticized the council’s handling of the recent iPro Realty scandal. In a letter sent to RECO on November 13, Minister Stephen Crawford warned that the takeover would proceed by the end of the month unless the organization could present a compelling alternative to restore public confidence.
- More than 132 organizations are warning the Ontario government that a proposed bill on tenants’ rights might drive up homelessness “in a way that this government is not anticipating,” while advocates plan to rally in Toronto this weekend. On Monday, a group of housing organizations released an open letter, raising a series of concerns related to Doug Ford government’s Bill 60 – Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act, 2025, and asking the government to rethink the proposal.
- The Ontario government announced plans on Thursday to introduce legislation requiring public-sector organizations to prioritize Ontario-made goods and services, then Canadian suppliers. The province said the Buy Ontario Act would apply to all public-sector organizations, including municipalities, ministries, agencies, contractors and subcontractors. The minister of public and business service delivery said the proposed legislation is intended to protect Ontario jobs amid economic challenges, including U.S. tariffs.
Manitoba
- A day after a majority of Progressive Conservative MLAs refused to stand in the chamber following a statement recognizing the Transgender Day of Remembrance, the backlash reverberated through the legislature, with government MLAs repeatedly heckling the Tories and the premier calling the PC leader a “bigot.” The governing NDP spent much of Friday’s question period condemning the Tories for staying seated after the address, calling it a harmful act against transgender people.
- The Manitoba government is planning to expand a law that protects people whose explicit or nude photos or videos are shared without their consent. The province already has a law that allows victims to sue perpetrators and receive support in getting images taken down from the internet. A bill now before the legislature would broaden the law to include nearly nude images, and would make it illegal to threaten to share intimate images, even if no sharing occurs.
- A man who has gradually lost his ability to move most of his muscles says the treatment he’s relying on to slow — and even reverse — his degenerative disease is being revoked. Jeremy Bray, 30, said he only has a month of treatment left for his Type 2 spinal muscular atrophy because the drug company is ending free coverage. That prompted him to once again urge the Manitoba government to cover the price of his life-sustaining drug while he still has some independence in his life. “I don’t want to be put on an expensive treatment that isn’t benefitting me,” Bray said. “I want to try this treatment that has already benefitted me and to be assessed along the way.”
- Manitoba’s plan for changes to the health-care system, which it says will improve patient safety, has garnered mixed reactions from advocates and experts. Tuesday’s speech from the throne promised to end mandatory overtime for health-care workers, implement staff-to-patient ratios in priority areas, and create a patient safety charter “enshrining into law your right to good health care.” But many say the system still doesn’t have enough health-care professionals to support changes in legislation.
Saskatchewan
- The NDP Opposition put the Saskatchewan Party government on blast for continuing to put vulnerable social services clients in the Coachman Motor Inn. The motel has come under fire for years after numerous reports of what the NDP calls “deplorable conditions,” including bug infestations and drugs. The Coachman passed its latest health inspection in August, according to Health Minister Terry Jenson. During question period at the legislature on Thursday, he maintained that the motel is an appropriate place for people to stay.
- Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says his government is also involved in ongoing negotiations about a potential oil pipeline in northern B.C., and re-allowing oil tankers on the nation’s west coast. A senior government official confirmed to CBC’s parliamentary bureau that Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are personally brokering a deal on the future of Alberta’s energy sector.
- Regina’s city administration announced Thursday that the city would need to increase next year’s property tax rate by 15.69 per cent to maintain current services. Acting city manager Jim Nicol emphasized that the estimated increase, about $33 a month for the average Regina homeowner, was only a forecast. City council will debate the 2026 budget in December and is expected to vote on a final mill rate increase on Dec. 19.
- Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has returned from a brief trade mission to the United States, where he met with high-ranking officials from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Moe said he held meetings with U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. All of the discussions were focused on how best to restart trade talks between Canada and the United States, Moe said.
Alberta
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government plans to limit what behaviour professional regulators can police in the interest of strengthening freedom of expression. A bill introduced in the House on Thursday aims to narrow what kind of behaviour regulated professionals — from architects to welders — can be disciplined for by their regulators. Smith is calling it Alberta’s “Peterson law,” after Ontario psychologist and social media personality Jordan Peterson, who was sanctioned by his province’s professional regulator for controversial public statements.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is distancing herself from a multimillion-dollar lab testing debacle involving the former private provider DynaLife. Smith, speaking in the legislature Thursday, said that the problems predated her time in office and that when she came in, she moved quickly to fix them. Her comments come a day after Alberta’s auditor general reported that some $109 million in public funds went to waste through the government’s effort to privatize province-wide lab services in 2022.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she’s currently in the midst of negotiations with the federal government on a memorandum of understanding. Speaking at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) fall 2025 convention on Tuesday, Smith said she wants the MOU to include the removal or overhaul of what she’s dubbed the “nine bad laws” and an agreement to build a bitumen pipeline.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has confirmed her government’s intention to allow physicians flexibility to work in both the public and private health care systems simultaneously. In a video posted to social media, Smith outlined how a “Dual Practice Surgery Model” would work, saying it would help reduce wait times by increasing the number of surgeries able to be performed. Though the video focused on surgeries, Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Matt Jones confirmed to reporters at the legislature on Wednesday that the legislation could also include family doctors.
British Columbia
- B.C. Premier David Eby is sharply criticizing Sask. Premier Scott Moe over supposed “secret conversations” with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ottawa on an energy plan that could include a new oil pipeline to B.C.’s North Coast. “I almost fell out of my seat when I heard Scott Moe say that he was part of these conversations,” Eby said in an interview with CBC’s Power & Politics on Thursday. “These discussions, which I was completely unaware of … about what happens in British Columbia.”
- A First Nations leader in B.C. says she’s calling for MLA Dallas Brodie to resign due to her anti-Indigenous and residential school denialism rhetoric inside and outside the legislature. Rosanne Casimir, kúkpi7 (chief) of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, said in a statement Wednesday that Brodie’s behaviour undercuts the standards of respect and integrity required of someone in public office. “She’s determined to undermine public trust, reconciliation and what she’s saying threatens the safety of Indigenous peoples,” Casimir told CBC Radio’s Daybreak Kamloops Thursday.
- An agreement between all Canadian provinces, territories, and the federal government, signed today, will drop interprovincial trade barriers on many goods except food and alcohol starting in December. It comes as part of an effort to support businesses with more trade opportunities in light of U.S. tariffs. B.C. Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth Ravi Kahlon said the agreement, signed in Yellowknife on Wednesday, is the outcome of a nationwide push led by B.C. to reduce domestic trade barriers.
- A B.C. bill to fast-track construction of a multibillion-dollar power transmission line that would double the amount of electricity flowing from Prince George to Terrace passed third reading in the provincial legislature Thursday. The North Coast Transmission Line, a project Premier David Eby staked his government over, is meant to increase electricity in the province’s north, to power critical mineral projects and LNG terminals. Bill 31, or the Energy Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, passed with the support of the B.C. NDP’s one-seat majority in the legislature despite Official Opposition attempts to stall it and the B.C. Green Party’s desire to amend it.
Northwest Territories
- Scott Clouthier acknowledges that his community of Hay River, N.W.T., is struggling right now, as it deals with an ongoing drug crisis and a recent rash of overdoses. But Clouthier, the executive director of Hay River’s youth centre, still feels “very optimistic” that the town will eventually find its way through. He’s seen the town deal with a crisis before. Clouthier first moved to Hay River in 2007, arriving just days before the murder of RCMP Const. Christopher Worden. Clouthier recalled how the community responded after that tragedy, which was connected to the illicit drug trade.
Yukon
- Premier Currie Dixon was officially sworn into the Yukon government office before naming three incumbent MLAs, who formerly served as ministers and critics, as well as five new faces, to his cabinet. Many Yukoners will be familiar with some of the cabinet ministers named to major files. The cabinet, which is chaired by the premier, consists of the senior decision-makers in government and oversees major policy decisions, orders in council and day-to-day operations of government.
Nunavut
- Nunavut Premier John Main assigned the territory’s eight new cabinet ministers their portfolios Thursday. Main, along with the ministers, were sworn in after being voted into their positions on Tuesday at the territory’s leadership forum. For his part, Main will serve as the minister of Finance and minister of Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs on top of his role as premier. He is also the minister responsible for immigration, for seniors, for the utility rates review council, the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Commission and the Nunavut Liquor and Cannabis Board.