What would make Nova Scotia more prosperous?

I want more Nova Scotians to be able to build a good life here. That means worthwhile work, higher pay, and a home they can afford. It also means giving people reasons to stay, return, or bring a business here.

Here are the seven priorities I would focus on, with practical steps for each. The linked articles go into the evidence and proposals in more detail.

Where we stand

GDP per person measures the value of goods and services an economy produces, divided by its population. Nova Scotia produced about $60,500 per resident in 2024, compared with $75,500 across Canada.

Canadian dollars at 2024 prices, rounded to the nearest $100. Calculated from Statistics Canada's GDP and July 1 population tables, retrieved October 2, 2026.

We are at about four-fifths of the national average. Industries and the share of residents working both affect that comparison. Household earnings and housing costs tell us more directly how people are doing; the GDP gap shows the scale of the economic challenge.

1. Encourage more people to start and grow businesses

Starting a business should be a practical option for more people here. Colleges and business associations could pair aspiring owners with experienced operators to work through pricing, costs and finding a first customer. For students, a supervised project could involve selling a product or service and managing the money. Judge these efforts by whether participants build businesses with paying customers.

The province and municipalities should follow actual applications to open or expand a business. Ask owners where they had to submit the same information twice, wait for an unexplained decision, or redo work because requirements arrived late. Remove those steps where possible, then publish one checklist showing each approval, the office responsible and the expected time.

A shared application should let departments reuse information already supplied. Health, safety and environmental requirements should be available before an owner pays for a design. Publish actual wait times alongside the targets, including the typical wait, the longest delays and the age of outstanding files. Separate time waiting for an applicant from time spent in government review. Owners could plan around the results, and everyone could see whether changes were helping.

Private restrictions deserve scrutiny too. A grocery chain can attach a condition to land it sells that prevents another grocer from opening there. The Competition Bureau identified these restrictions as barriers to competition. Removing obstacles like these lets more owners invest and compete for customers.

Our large companies can make investments that small firms cannot. We also need new businesses to be able to challenge them. My article on big business and competition looks at how to encourage both, including simpler approvals and fair access to customers and facilities.

2. Give businesses access to more customers

A business with a larger market can spread the cost of its equipment and staff across more sales. It also has more reason to invest in a better product.

The OECD's review of Canada recommends reducing the rules that make it harder to trade and work across provincial borders. Nova Scotia has already announced agreements on goods, trucking and financial services. The province should publish practical instructions for selling a product or working in another province: which existing approvals are accepted, what remains to be done, and who handles an exception. Business owners should be able to report repeat requirements that the agreements were supposed to remove.

Nova Scotia already has a public tender portal and email alerts for suppliers. Public buyers should use those channels for competitions that ask businesses to solve a problem: describe the result needed, the trial budget, and how a successful test could lead to a purchase. That gives firms room to propose a solution before the buyer specifies exactly which product to buy.

Buyers should also split suitable contracts into smaller jobs and accept relevant experience gained by a founder before starting the company. That would give new firms a chance to establish a track record. Private buyers could advertise through their supplier pages and industry networks. Public and private buyers should set the purchase criteria before inviting trials and let suppliers retain the rights to sell their own technology elsewhere.

3. Invest in better tools, research and the skills to use them

In 2024, Nova Scotia businesses invested about $3,100 per resident in non-residential buildings, machinery and equipment, compared with about $6,700 nationally. Industry mix explains some of the difference: a mine requires much more equipment than many service businesses.

In Statistics Canada's 2022 technology survey, Canadian businesses that had not adopted advanced technologies reported slow or low returns, difficulty finding skilled staff, and problems fitting new technology into existing systems.

In a 2013 randomized study of Indian textile plants, hands-on management consulting raised productivity by 17% in the first year. Better quality control, production routines and inventory management helped. The researchers found that lack of information had kept firms from adopting profitable practices.

Nova Scotia already has workplace training support and a voucher program connecting businesses with university and college expertise, although the voucher intake is currently closed. Business advisers should help owners identify a costly problem, test an improvement with the right technical help, and budget for installation, staff training and downtime. A useful trial gives the owner and lender evidence of whether a larger purchase will pay.

Research and development deserves support too. A UK study of expanded R&D tax relief found that eligible smaller firms increased both research spending and patenting. Nova Scotia already offers a 15% refundable R&D credit: qualifying firms can receive a refund even when they owe no income tax. That helps companies developing a product before they become profitable.

I would keep that credit and make it easier for small firms to plan around it. Advisers can direct eligible businesses to the CRA's pre-claim approval service before research begins. The province and CRA should publish processing times and assess how much extra research the support produces before raising the rate.

Universities and colleges could also publish clear prices and booking procedures for businesses using their labs, with standard agreements on who owns the results. A founder could then budget for testing and agree on the right to sell the product before commissioning the research.

The Atlantic Economic Panel's September 2026 report proposes a business-led productivity partnership and a $1 billion investment fund. I would start by connecting the support we have and publishing its results. A new fund needs a clear account of which viable investments cannot obtain financing and why existing lenders and investors will not fund them.

4. Pursue industries where we can win customers elsewhere

Nova Scotia should actively seek major investment and help local firms build products they can sell around the world.

The ocean opportunity includes technology as well as seafood and energy. COVE, the Dartmouth ocean-technology hub, could recruit ports, seafood businesses and vessel operators with problems they would pay to solve. Each buyer would commit access to a working site and name someone responsible for testing. COVE could then invite companies to propose solutions, using the trial-to-purchase process described above.

Data centres offer another possibility. The province and utilities should prepare an offer around suitable sites: available power, the upgrades required, expected connection dates and who pays. They could then seek investors willing to finance those upgrades and commit to local training. Competing proposals would give the province a basis for negotiating the benefits.

Developers and regulators should assess water, power and environmental limits early. Investors can then work out the cost of meeting those requirements before committing years to a site.

The panel also calls for an integrated Atlantic electricity system. Nova Scotia should work with neighbouring provinces on a shared plan for generation and transmission, including costs, connection dates and expected demand. Buyers need to commit to purchasing the power, and utilities need agreement on who finances the connections. That work would support resource processing and manufacturing as well as ocean industries and data centres.

5. Give skilled people reasons to stay

Universities already bring people here. Statistics Canada's graduate-mobility study found much lower retention among Canadian bachelor's graduates who came to Nova Scotia from another province than among those originally from here. We should build employer relationships while students are still studying.

Employers and colleges could begin with paid placements tied to real hiring needs, followed by offers before graduation. Nova Scotia already supports this through its co-op incentive and Graduate to Opportunity programs. Publish how many participants find lasting work here, what they earn, and whether they stay after the support ends.

Immigration belongs in the same plan. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot evaluation found promising early retention under a model combining employers with settlement support. The province should connect recruitment to real vacancies, help qualified newcomers demonstrate their skills, and support families with language learning and finding work for partners. International graduates need access to those employer connections too. Housing and access to services have to grow with recruitment.

6. Help more students master reading and math

A stronger workforce starts well before college. Nova Scotia has expanded structured literacy instruction into Grades 3–6. Teachers need the materials, training and time to put it into practice, with early checks that identify students who need extra help.

For students who have fallen behind, Chicago offers a useful example. Two randomized trials of in-school math tutoring found gains in test scores and course grades among Grade 9 and 10 students. The first trial estimated that participation cut math course failures by about half. Students worked in pairs with a trained tutor during a daily class period, with teaching adapted to what they needed to learn.

Nova Scotia could test that approach in schools with substantial math gaps: schedule regular sessions, train and supervise tutors, and compare progress with similar students receiving usual support. Protect time for the wider curriculum, and publish attendance, learning gains and the cost per pupil before expanding it.

7. Build homes and infrastructure alongside the jobs

A better job is much less useful if someone cannot find a home nearby, or if higher rent consumes the raise.

Municipalities should change zoning so more small apartment buildings, backyard suites and conversions can proceed without a separate council decision on each proposal. Owners would still need to meet the published building and site requirements. The province could provide shared planning and inspection support for smaller municipalities that lack the staff to handle more applications.

Standard plans can reduce repeated design and review work. CMHC already lists Halifax, Amherst and Yarmouth among municipalities supporting pre-reviewed housing designs. More municipalities should adopt suitable plans and publish a complete sample application. For rural sites, that should show the septic, road-access and site assessments needed before construction.

Infrastructure funding should follow a list of buildable sites and the upgrades each needs. Municipalities and utilities should cost the work, identify how many homes it would serve, and agree on funding and construction dates. Developers should pay for work serving only their project; governments and utilities should share costs where an upgrade also serves existing residents or opens other sites. My Lunenburg utility article explains how to separate those costs, a method other communities could use too.

Councils should also track and publish progress from permits through construction to completed homes. Where an approved project stalls, identify whether financing, servicing or construction capacity is holding it up, then address that obstacle.

I would judge progress by whether more businesses invest and grow here, wages rise faster than living costs, and people can afford homes near their work.