It was March 2023 when Nova Scotia’s then-advanced education minister appeared at Saint Mary’s University, announcing $25 million in funding for the university to revolutionize the province’s health-care system.
The money was intended to create health-care data analytics and management programs at the Halifax school, but Brian Wong offered few details on how that funding would lead to better health care.
“We need to come into the modern era as far as data and health care,” Wong said at the time. “We’ve done it in other sectors many years ago, and it’s time that we do it.”
Over the last few years, Saint Mary’s created and launched professional development courses, certificates in leadership, management and data analytics, and a master’s in applied health sciences.
While those programs remain active, provincial officials viewed progress as slow and unsatisfactory, according to documents obtained through freedom of information requests to the university and the province.
Less than three years after the funding announcement, the province quietly decided early this year that the remaining $11 million of unused funding would not be used to continue the initiative.
A government document points to two primary reasons — the province’s own fiscal constraints and “the fact that [Saint Mary’s has] not been able to demonstrate a concrete plan and adequate progress against that plan.”
Questions about whether the funding was a good use of public money emerged from the start.
The $25-million grant originated from a university pitch less than a page long that began by highlighting SMU’s financial troubles, CBC News revealed in 2024.
Opposition questions how 1-page proposal earned Halifax university $25M from province
Unlike nearby rival Dalhousie University, Saint Mary’s does not have a school of medicine or nursing.
In 2024, Wong defended the initiative.
“I’m not focused on a proposal,” he said. “I’m really focused on what an outcome will be. And I know that they’re working on it. And I’m confident that this will be an important program that will help direct health-care initiatives going forward.”
The province has since changed course.
“It’s the department’s role to ensure appropriate oversight and accountability over public funding flowing to our post-secondary institutions. This is an example of where that oversight determined a need to change course,” a government document notes.
In its pitch for the funding, Saint Mary’s committed to several key initiatives, including:
In provincial evaluations tracking these goals, the word “unsatisfactory” appears eight times on one page of the heavily-redacted documents.
“All three of the plans and their progress reports have been found to be unsatisfactory mainly due to the fact that there is still no plan in place to complete the initiative, spend the entirety of the $25M, and progress has been slow overall,” a government document states.
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Focusing specially on the plan to have new articulation agreements with NSCC, the document states the Department of Advanced Education “does not see any value” in continuing to pursue this.
“Given SMU does not offer health education, there is limited if any opportunities for 2+2 offerings with the NSCC,” it said. “The only real opportunity that may exist is with Health Information Management.”
Saint Mary’s stands by the initiative.
In a statement, Margaret Murphy, the university’s associate vice-president of external affairs, said the university worked collaboratively with government and sector partners to support health-sector workforce development in the province.
“While the Province ultimately concluded that the initiative would not continue in its original form, the university believes important groundwork, program development and partnership activities were undertaken during the period of the agreement,” she wrote.
“Saint Mary’s remains committed to supporting workforce development and responding to the evolving needs of the province through its teaching, research and community partnerships.”
Saint Mary’s, like many Nova Scotia universities, faces financial strain driven by declining international enrolment and stagnant provincial operating grants.
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But the way the deal between the province and Saint Mary’s was structured indirectly helped the university with its financial woes.
Saint Mary’s received the $25 million upfront and had to place the money in an externally restricted fund, separating it from general revenues so it could only be spent on the designated health-care programs.
However, the unused money was placed in an interest-bearing account, and that interest could be used for other expenses. Murphy confirmed the interest over the life of the initiative worked out to about $3.5 million and was used for student financial aid.
By early this year, roughly $11 million remained unspent. Around budget time, the province proposed allowing Saint Mary’s to keep the unspent funds on the condition that this year’s operating grant be reduced by an equivalent amount — a deal the university accepted.
“While some work has been completed, SMU has been unable to provide a satisfactory plan to the department for the remaining unspent funding,” a government document notes.
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