New Brunswick’s government has confirmed that its deficit for the 2025-26 fiscal year landed at $1.3 billion, matching the projection issued earlier this year.
Audited financial statements released Friday show the final shortfall came in almost exactly where the province forecast it would in its third-quarter update, coming in $25 million lower than that projection. The fiscal year ended March 31, but under the province’s usual timeline, the final audited figures — reviewed by the auditor-general — were not made public until September.
From a Modest Forecast to a Billion-Dollar Gap
The confirmed shortfall represents a dramatic shift from where Finance Minister René Legacy started. When he first tabled the budget for 2025-26, Legacy projected a deficit of $549 million. By February 2026, that figure had grown to $1.3 billion, and Friday’s audited statements confirmed the deficit landed almost exactly there.
Government Defends Spending Trajectory
Speaking to reporters Friday, Legacy repeated his position that the current Liberal government is addressing what he described as years of underspending by the previous Progressive Conservative government, though he acknowledged that pattern of increased spending cannot continue indefinitely.
Legacy said there is currently “a window of opportunity” for the province to adjust the size of government and public services to a level he called comfortable for New Brunswickers. He added that at some point, the province will need to bring the deficit back in line to protect its financial ratios.
Deficit Projections Keep Climbing for Current Year
The fiscal challenges are not limited to the past year. Legacy’s projection for the current 2026-27 fiscal year has already risen sharply since the budget was delivered in March. At that time, the projected deficit stood at close to $1.4 billion; it has since grown to nearly $1.7 billion.
This article references reporting from:
