For the second consecutive year, Nova Scotia has earned the top spot – and top dollar – on Atlantic Canada’s major projects inventory.

Some 179 projects worth $57 billion are underway, an increase of 5% over the previous year. In 2015, spending is forecast to hit $3.2 billion, a rise of 1% over the previous year, and enough to make the province the front-runner among the Atlantic provinces for major projects (in a tie with New Brunswick). Equally positive, many of these projects are still in their infancy.

To no one’s surprise, and with just a hint of skepticism, much of Nova Scotia’s good news is tied to the federal government’s announcement earlier this year that Irving Shipbuilding Inc. has won the $2.3-billion contract to construct five, possibly six Arctic offshore patrol ships. The announcement comes seven years after the government first unveiled its plans to buy new ships for the Canadian Navy. The project is expected to sustain an estimated 1,000 employees at the peak of production.

The initiative is part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) to reinvigorate Canada’s navy. Across Canada, the NSPS commitment to date has boosted Canadian gross domestic product by $308 million, created more than 3,600 full-time-equivalent positions and generated $226 million in employment income over a two-year period. The NSPS also has generated more than $169 million in consumer spending and approximately $76 million in taxes for federal, provincial and local governments.

The Irving contract is only one of several noteworthy projects up and running in Nova Scotia. Despite uncertainty about the viability of natural gas in a rocky European market, three liquid natural gas export projects are confirmed to be in the works. These include development of a natural gas facility by Bear Head LNG Corp. at Point Tupper in Richmond County, a project that received approval from the provincial government this past spring.

Construction of a 170-kilometre subsea transmission cable under the Cabot Strait, a.k.a. the Maritime Link, has weathered continued controversy. The $1.52-billion link will allow the province to import hydro electricity from the Muskrat Falls generating station in Labrador, which is being developed by Nalcor Energy as part of the Lower Churchill Project.

According to the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC), an independent think-tank based in Halifax, these projects, and others, will have a major, long-term impact. The council is predicting a strong and positive outlook for 2016 as the link project hits peak activity and the first full year of work on the Arctic patrol ships begins.

Still, APEC noted in its recent inventory that Nova Scotia, like its East Coast neighbours, is facing significant fiscal challenges and does not have the resources to support continued capital-spending programs. The federal government, APEC says, may need to play a greater role in stimulating the local economy.

Perhaps the Air Force could use some new fighter jets.

© 2015 Investment Executive. All rights reserved.