Legislative Amendments for Service Exchange Agreement

The government is preparing to move forward with a new agreement with municipalities, the most significant update to how municipalities work with the Province in almost three decades.

Amendments to several pieces of legislation will enable implementation of a renegotiated Service Exchange Agreement.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr introduced the Municipal Reform Act today, October 17.

“Municipalities are key partners in growing our province. The Service Exchange Agreement is the result of working together to ensure our municipalities have what they need to grow and thrive,” said Minister Lohr. “We are making historical changes and creating new opportunities to help municipalities support the changing needs of Nova Scotians and ensure our communities are sustainable.”

For municipalities covered by the renegotiated agreement, proposed amendments would include:

• removing the requirement under the Corrections Act for municipalities to make an annual contribution towards corrections
• removing the requirement under the Housing Supply and Services Act for municipalities to pay a portion of the net operating losses for public housing
• changing the Education Act so that, in the future, ownership of schools built prior to 1981 would transfer back to the Province when they are deemed obsolete, with municipalities given the first right of offer to purchase the building at a negotiated price
• updating the Municipal Grants Act and moving elements of the Municipal Financial Capacity Grant formula into regulation so it is more flexible and easier to adapt to the changing needs of municipalities, and enabling government to implement the new formula agreed to by municipalities.

Proposed amendments will be supported by regulations and will allow for those municipalities not covered by the renegotiated agreement to be addressed separately.

The new legislation would take effect April 1, 2024.

Quotes:

“This is a great example of collaboration between the Province and municipalities and I am happy with the progress we have achieved in this agreement.”

– Murray Scott, Mayor, Municipality of the County of Cumberland

Quick Facts:

• there are 49 municipalities in Nova Scotia
• the current service exchange agreement has been in place since 1995
• the proposed amendments are the result of hundreds of hours of consultations over 18 months, working directly with affected municipalities across the Province
• renegotiating the memorandum of understanding with municipalities is a key part of the Minister’s mandate
• discussions on additional items beyond this service agreement are still ongoing

Additional Resources:

Bills tabled in the legislature are available at: https://nslegislature.ca/legislative-business/bills-statutes/bills/assembly-64-session-1

Mandate letter of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing: https://novascotia.ca/exec_council/letters-2021/ministerial-mandate-letter-2021-MAH-EMO-MR.pdf