Provincial and Territorial Update – September 13, 2026
An overview on Provincial and Territorial updates for the week of September 13, 2026. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- New Brunswick will restrict the use of American products by its suppliers in the wake of trade war escalations this week. Starting on Oct. 1, Premier Susan Holt said government will prohibit the use of American goods and services for contracts over $5 million. About 90 per cent of government’s procurement contracts would meet that bar, Holt said in a press conference Thursday.
- U.S. President Donald Trump’s new trade sanctions on Canada will affect some signature New Brunswick brands. A series of proclamations made by Trump late Tuesday will ban some products from being imported into the U.S. and add others to the list of products facing 50 per cent tariffs. Beer and molasses are on the list of banned imports, which will affect Moosehead Breweries and Crosby’s Molasses. The new tariffs will come into effect on Sept. 15 and the import ban comes into effect on Sept. 29, according to Trump’s proclamation.
- Green MLA Megan Mitton says she will run for the leadership of the New Brunswick Green Party. Mitton, a three-term member of the provincial legislature, made the announcement in a press release Wednesday morning. “I am convinced now more than ever that we need leaders who are bold and honest and who are going to fight for what New Brunswickers really need,” Mitton said in an interview. “I’m putting my name forward because I understand what the job entails and I’m up for the job.”
- The Government of New Brunswick announced construction of a new addictions treatment centre for Bilijk First Nation that, according to the community’s chief, will address systemic issues. “This project has become a critical part of our community’s vision to help foster and cultivate healing, growth and wellness,” Chief Justice Gruben said at the announcement in the community also known as Kingsclear First Nation. According to the province, the community health clinic — the Bilijk Health Centre — is currently helping 75 clients with mental health and addiction challenges, and it needs more space to provide treatment.
Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia’s RSV vaccine program leaves out vulnerable adults, patients say. Paying out-of-pocket for the shot costs over $300. When Mary Pyche’s partner was hospitalized for two weeks earlier this year with a severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection — suffering high fever, delirium and breathing trouble — his doctor recommended an RSV vaccination. However, Nova Scotia’s publicly funded RSV vaccination program covers only three groups:
- Infants under eight months old.
- Adults 60 and older who live in, or are awaiting placement in, long-term care.
- Adults 75 and older.
- The Nova Scotia government says it’s ahead of schedule on its targets more than midway through its five-year housing plan, but opposition leaders say the fact the housing crisis continues is a sign the plan must be revisited. Nova Scotia Housing Minister John White said on Friday that housing starts in Halifax are at their highest point in seven years and vacancy rates have increased from one per cent to 2.7 per cent since the start of the plan in 2023.
- A new government bill proposes more support for people whose intimate images have been shared without their consent. If passed, the bill will expand the definition of an intimate image to include “fake” images and allow more people to access court orders and get help from the Justice Department’s cyberscan unit. It will also reverse the onus of proof so that an accused would have to prove consent was given — rather than the victim having to prove it was not given.
- Analysts with Scotiabank are calling a provincial government bill that considers tying Nova Scotia Power’s profits to performance “potentially negative” based on the PC government’s history of interference with the utility. The bank’s subsidiary Scotia Capital released a brief analysis this week after Premier Tim Houston tabled a bill directing the energy board to review a new regulatory framework for the province’s biggest electricity provider.
Prince Edward Island
- The condemnation was swift after the director of a private service offering doctor appointments to some visitors to P.E.I. for a fee defended his company on CBC News: Compass this week. Premier Rob Lantz took to social media Thursday after the interview with Marius Croeser, stating he is “outraged” that PEIDoctor.com is prioritizing for-profit health-care services within the province. “They are doing so at the expense of providing care to Island families that need it,” Lantz wrote in his post, adding Islanders should “stay tuned.” “I have directed the Department of Health and Wellness to review this matter and find a way to put a stop to it. Islanders deserve no less.”
- Nurses on Prince Edward Island are calling on the provincial government to create a plan that will help strengthen retention and recruitment amid high vacancy rates, which their union says are leading many to burn out. Officials with the P.E.I. Nurses’ Union spoke to MLAs on a legislative standing committee Wednesday about wage gaps and other challenges nurses in the province are facing. Union president Kim Sears said Health P.E.I. needs to focus first on retention, then on recruitment.
- A legislative committee has cheaper gas top of mind as it looks into potential ways to lower fuel prices in Prince Edward Island. The price of regular gasoline on P.E.I. tops the Maritime provinces and is among the highest in the country. Thursday, MLAs on the committee heard how the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission determines fuel prices. “I think it’s important for Islanders to know we’re tracking a lot of information every day, not just on pricing day,” said IRAC chair Pam Williams.
- P.E.I.’s child and youth advocate says he will be launching an investigation into how the province’s new school sexual misconduct policy was implemented “without any or sufficient regard to” his feedback — while Public Schools Branch (PSB) officials say those comments are “disheartening.” Thursday, a little more than three months after the PSB policy was announced, Marvin Bernstein said he will use the legislative powers of his office to investigate the process that led to the policy being implemented without his suggestions.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- In the lead-in to a week of debate on Churchill River power development, provincial revenues and consumer electricity costs, no politician in Newfoundland and Labrador has mentioned what interim Consumer Advocate Adrienne Ding refers to as “the cliff.” It’s the unaddressed cost of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project that, she says, experts are telling her could as much as double electricity rates come 2030. That’s without any intervention for the bill, still in the billions of dollars.
- A medical staffing agency has sued Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services, claiming officials wrongly released material under access-to-information laws and treated the company unfairly when it applied for contracts. Canadian Health Labs (CHL) is also accusing NLHS of “a breach of good faith and a breach of the duty of fairness in the tendering process.” The agency had contracts to provide travel nurses in the province, who filled vacancies after the pandemic and faced scrutiny in a 2025 audit of health contracts by the auditor general.
- A special session in the House of Assembly on the Churchill River power agreement is scheduled over four days next week. After back-and-forth between political parties on the rules, Opposition Liberals and the third party NDP say the process set up is disappointing. Details of the session were confirmed Thursday by Government House Leader Lloyd Parrott, in a press conference outside the legislature. He addressed complaints already being made by Liberal members, who said the rules are not allowing enough time for questions to government.
- Ottawa and Newfoundland and Labrador say they’re making the environmental and impact assessment processes more efficient but one advocate worries it leaves communities and the landscape vulnerable. On Tuesday, representatives for the provincial and federal environment ministers announced a new co-operation agreement on impact assessments is in place between the two levels of government.
Quebec
- Pressed to say whether she remains a sovereignist, Christine Fréchette on Friday again declined to give a direct answer, instead describing herself as an “autonomist.” But the answer did little to ease pressure from opponents demanding that Fréchette clarify where she stands on the question of Quebec sovereignty. Autonomist is also the term Fréchette used to describe herself in a social media video posted Thursday after questions about her views surfaced on the campaign trail.
- Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon came under fire from his rivals on Friday after revealing that his planned sovereignty referendum would cost at least $130 million. While three of the five leaders in the campaign argued that there were better ways to spend this money, sovereigntist left-wing party Québec Solidaire defended the proposed expense. In an interview with The Canadian Press, St-Pierre Plamondon had detailed the costs of preparing for and holding the referendum in 2029 or 2030 if his party forms a government.
- Quebec political leaders are entering their 17th day on the campaign trail today with their first debate approaching on Tuesday. The Liberal party is expected to present its financial framework today. The Parti Québécois will then be the only one left to present its financial framework. Party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has said he would do so on Tuesday, the day of the first debate. While the Parti Québécois has been favoured by some public opinion polls, recent surveys appear to show the Coalition Avenir Québec gaining momentum.
- Promises on transport, public safety and health care filled the air on the Quebec campaign trail on Saturday as leaders prepare to face off in debates next week. The first of three debates between the leaders of the five major parties is scheduled for Tuesday in preparation for the Oct. 5 election. Parti Québecois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon and Liberal Leader Charles Milliard both said they would put an increased focus on prevention to lighten the province’s health-care system. In a press conference in Montreal on Saturday morning, St-Pierre Plamondon said his party would invest $550 million over four years in prevention measures while encouraging physical activity and mental health care.
Ontario
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he’s open to the idea of involuntary addiction treatment. Ontario’s Big City Mayors group recently repeated a request to the province to review existing mental health laws with the idea of expanding involuntary treatment. “I’d be open to it as long as we can help them and help the communities,” Ford said Thursday while announcing a cabinet shuffle that includes a new associate minister of mental health, Michelle Cooper. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says that Prime Minister Mark Carney was right to walk away from an “absolutely terrible deal” with the U.S. government. Ford made the comment during a speech at the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Thursday, where he also announced expanded eligibility for two tariff relief programs for impacted businesses and workers in Ontario.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford made several changes to his cabinet Thursday, including moving embattled minister David Piccini from the labour portfolio to infrastructure. Piccini is under investigation by the integrity commissioner after the auditor general raised questions about his handling of the $2.5-billion Skills Development Fund. Ford has defended Piccini and the success of the fund and framed the move Thursday as a positive one.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Thursday that he hopes Republicans in the U.S. lose both the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, suggesting that voters should punish President Donald Trump for his moves to escalate the ongoing trade war with Canada. “Hopefully, he’s going to lose the Senate. He’s going to lose Congress. I hope so, and hold him accountable,” Ford said. “But we’ll see how that goes. We aren’t going to interfere in the U.S. election,” he continued. Ford has become one of Trump’s most outspoken critics in Canada, accusing the president of attempting to move Ontario’s businesses and jobs across the border to the U.S.
- The Ontario Science Centre has laid off 30 workers including the entire science department, The Canadian Press has learned. Science centre CEO Paul Kortenaar told employees at a meeting Thursday that the organization is being restructured. “As part of the changes, some departments will no longer form part of the new organizational structure,” Kortenaar told staff in a video conference call, a recording of which was obtained by The Canadian Press. “In some cases, this means entire full teams are impacted, including business development, science, security and live exhibits.”
Manitoba
- As small Manitoba businesses feel the squeeze of the latest phase in the trade war with the U.S., one advocacy group says more targeted government help is needed — and fast. “If nothing changes, we are going to see small businesses cutting production, postponing investments and making really difficult decisions about jobs,” said Robin Bezte, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “That’s why the next few months are so critical. Because once a business closes, we don’t just lose that owner’s livelihood — we lose local jobs, suppliers and services. And those losses are very difficult for a community to rebuild.”
- As the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks approaches during an ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada, Manitoba’s premier says the timing is a “poignant” reminder of the two countries’ shared history — on that day and beyond. “As Canadians, we know that we were there in the immediate aftermath to keep people safe — Gander, N.L., comes to mind. We know that our first responders helped to join the rescue efforts in New York, as well as other locations,” Wab Kinew said at an unrelated news conference Thursday afternoon. “And importantly, Canadians in uniform laid down their lives in huge numbers in Afghanistan, as part of a global war on terror in response to 9/11.”
- Dynacare’s chief medical officer says Manitoba hospitals don’t always have the capacity to deal with their own testing, after being asked whether the province’s public health system could handle the lab company’s work. Dr. Jenisa Naidoo said Thursday some of the lab work that’s supposed to be done in provincial health-care facilities is being sent to the private company. Her statement is “not based on [Shared Health’s] information. It’s based on the fact that we get the work,” Naidoo said during a Manitoba Labour Board hearing that will determine whether Dynacare workers provide an essential service.
- Manitoba saw a net increase in the number of physicians working in the province last year, but that growth hasn’t been the same in all regions, a doctors’ advocacy group says. Manitoba had a net gain of 196 physicians between April 30, 2025 and April 30, 2026, the College of Physicians and Surgeon’s annual report says. The total number of doctors working in the province this year rose to 3,694, up from 3,498 at the end of April 2025.
Saskatchewan
- Regina senior Garth Rusconi says he’s being forced out of his home after more than seven years due to multiple steep rent increases. He’s calling on the province to put a cap on rent hikes. “Imagine being told you can no longer afford your home,” Rusconi said at a news conference organized by the province’s Opposition NDP. Rusconi lived at The Williston, a private retirement community in Regina’s Harbour Landing neighborhood. Rusconi said he had no problem with annual rent increases of about four per cent each April over the last three years. But in July he received a letter informing him of three upcoming rent increases in a 12-month period.
- Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has rejected an attempt to revive a lawsuit that challenged the provincial government’s expansion of fossil-fuelled power plants. Climate Justice Saskatoon, the organization that filed the legal challenge alongside seven residents of the province, said in a news release that the decision was disappointing. The organization called the decision a “setback,” but said it did not change the urgent need for “climate justice.”
- A Saskatoon steel manufacturer is stuck in the middle of a trade dispute it did not start and is now trapped between American tariffs on the products it ships south and Canadian counter-tariffs on the components it purchases from the United States. Supreme Steel president David Fritz said the company’s relationships with U.S. customers still exist but the dueling tariffs and counter-tariffs are getting in the way. A significant percentage of the company’s customers have previously been in the U.S., he said.
- A hearing date is set at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal for the case of two fired Saskatoon police officers who couldn’t challenge their dismissal because of a mistake their lawyer made. Former constables Dylan Kemp and Jason Garland were fired on Sept. 3, 2025, after an investigation related to an off-duty house party. They hired lawyer Steve Seiferling to appeal. “There was clear intention to appeal this decision, and but for counsel’s error, their respective appeals would be permitted to proceed. By no wrongdoing of their own, the appellants’ appeals have been waylaid,” Seiferling wrote in his factum filed with the appeal court.
Alberta
- When referendum day arrives in Alberta on Oct. 19, the focus won’t just be on separation and immigration. Albertans will also be presented with four constitutional questions that range from abolishing the Senate to whether Alberta should appoint the judges who sit on the province’s higher courts. Third on the list will be a question tied to federal programs like pharmacare. The federal government provides funding to provinces for these programs, sometimes with conditions attached. The Alberta government wants that to change. As part of the referendum, voters will be asked if they support a government push to try to amend the Constitution.
- Alberta separatists think they’re going to win a referendum that surveys suggest they are poised to lose by a wide margin, according to exclusive new polling. And that mismatch of expectations has consequences for what comes next — including the likelihood that Albertans shouldn’t expect this issue to be put to rest with this one vote, say the pollster and a political scientist. Abacus Data CEO David Coletto presented the results of the new poll, done during the first week of September, to CBC’s West of Centre on Friday.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Saturday that it’s “unlikely” her government will launch a new Crown corporation to build out natural gas pipelines in the province. Smith, speaking on her provincewide radio call-in program, said the government has heard from dozens of companies struggling to access natural gas and that the province is looking at solutions, though for now those conversations are sticking to the private sector.
- The Alberta government has launched a $4-million advertising campaign outlining its position on the 10 questions in the Oct. 19 referendum. Voters will be urged to choose the Yes option for the first nine questions, which deal with immigration and constitutional changes, according to Sam Blackett, director of media relations for Premier Danielle Smith. For the question on separation, Blackett would not state which option the campaign is supporting.
British Columbia
- Teresa Wat is the latest MLA to join the fledging political party set up by a group of former B.C. Conservatives. But, there’s also a push to revive a dormant political party whose collapse made way for the B.C. Conservatives to become the Official Opposition. Wat said Friday the yet-unnamed political party led by Peter Milobar is the best option to defeat the NDP government. “We believe in fiscal responsibility, economic opportunity … and bringing people together instead of dividing them.” It means the party will have six MLAs and will have third party standing in the B.C. Legislature, leapfrogging the B.C. Greens.
- Crossing the floor to another political party should come at a cost, says the president of a federal Conservative riding association in B.C. The Similkameen-South Okanagan-West Kootenay electoral district association is calling on the Conservative Party to adopt a policy requiring MPs to agree to repay campaign expenses should they cross the floor or choose to sit as an Independent. Chris Pequin, the riding association’s president, says that when an MP ditches their party mid-term, it’s “a slap in the face” to the volunteers who spent thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars to get them elected.
- B.C. Premier David Eby unveiled new welcome signs for U.S. border crossings at a Tuesday press conference, which he says reflect a message from his government: “Welcome to British Columbia, Canada. Strong, proud, and will NEVER be the 51st state. Sorry!” He pointed to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying that when 8,500 passengers were stranded at Vancouver International Airport, Canadians opened their doors to their southern neighbours. “Now here we are 25 years later, as President Donald Trump has hurled insults, unfair tariffs and continues to threaten our independence as a country.”
- British Columbia forestry groups have written to Premier David Eby saying the industry is at a “breaking point” and calling for urgent action to address challenges ranging from slow-moving provincial processes to steep U.S. tariffs. The letter dated Sept. 4 said the entire industry is at risk, from logging and transportation to pulp and paper and value-added manufacturing. “We are in the middle of a major international trade crisis. Government must respond with the urgency that crisis demands,” said the letter from groups representing contractors, manufacturers, unions and others linked to the sector.
Northwest Territories
- Pharmacists in the N.W.T. may soon be allowed to prescribe certain medications and even administer vaccines. The government of the Northwest Territories is currently working to come up with legislation that would expand regulations for pharmacists, following changes made in the Yukon and the provinces in recent years. Pharmacists in the N.W.T. can currently only renew certain prescriptions, and generally have fewer powers than their counterparts in other parts of Canada, but that could change in the coming months.
Yukon
- Whitehorse’s new top bureaucrat is hitting the ground running ahead of the city’s next budget cycle, according to the mayor. During a special meeting on Aug. 31, Whitehorse city council unanimously appointed David Barrick as the new city manager. Barrick was officially sworn in Sept. 2. During an interview with CBC News Tuesday, Barrick said he sees Whitehorse as more resilient and self-reliant than other communities across the country. Given its relative isolation, Barrick said the city needs to work closely with other local, territorial and federal governments.
Nunavut
- While Nunavut has announced it plans to pay foster parents more, Natsiq Kango said she still hasn’t been paid for taking care of a foster child. “I do not know, I have not yet been paid for the foster child I had. I don’t know if there will be an increase on it, I don’t know what they set up for me,” she said in Inuktitut. Last week, Nunavut’s Family Services department announced it is increasing daily foster care rates by 45 per cent to better support day-to-day care for foster children. A foster parent in Iqaluit, Arviat or Rankin Inlet will see the rate go from $58 to $84.10 a day, while foster parents in other communities will see corresponding 45 per cent increases to the amounts they are paid.