HALIFAX — The federal government will join New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in spending a total of $650 million on protecting the Chignecto Isthmus, the narrow strip of flood-prone land that links the two Maritime provinces.
Ottawa announced Thursday it will contribute $325 million to the project, while the two provinces committed to spending $162.5 million each.
A key transportation corridor, the isthmus includes a section of the Trans-Canada Highway and a Canadian National railway line. An estimated $100 million of goods and services cross the corridor every day. As well, the isthmus provides a link for electrical transmission lines and fibre optic cables.
Climate researchers have warned that one severe storm in the Bay of Fundy could overwhelm the area’s dikes, flooding communities and halting the transportation of goods.
"This is a major step towards ensuring the security of this important link," the federal government said in a statement.
The agreement temporarily settles a longstanding source of friction between the two levels of government, with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. insisting Ottawa should pay for all of the upgrades.
The three provinces are part of a constitutional reference case that has asked the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to determine if Ottawa is fully responsible for maintaining the integrity of the land link. The court reserved its decision earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston released a letter he sent to Prime Minister Mark Carney, in which he asks Carney to confirm that the federal government will accept the court's decision should the three-judge panel decide that Ottawa is to pay the entire bill.
The announcement comes days before Carney is expected to call an election.
The funding announced Thursday will be used to raise the area's dike system to decrease the risk of flooding caused by storm surges, rising sea levels and coastal erosion, all of which have been linked to climate change.
In all, there are 35 kilometres of dikes in the area. The original network of dikes was built in the late 1600s
The project will also include the replacement or addition of new, small aboiteaux -- culverts with gates that prevent sea water from flowing inland past the dikes while allowing water behind the dikes to flow out.
The changes will also help protect farmland and the communities of Sackville, N.B., and Amherst, N.S., both of which are close to the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick boundary.
"This corridor plays a crucial role in the economy of our region," federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement. "This project will create good jobs, protect key supply chains, and make communities on both sides of the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia (boundary) more resilient for generations to come."
LeBlanc is also a New Brunswick MP.
Fred Tilley, Nova Scotia's public works minister, said the province was taking a "Team Canada approach" to solving an important problem.
“Protecting Nova Scotia’s main connection to the rest of Canada has never been more important," he said in a statement. "We’re putting the interests of our country first.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
