Halifax phasing out funding for school librarians over five years

After months of concern from Halifax school librarians about the status of their jobs, their union says a new agreement has brought immediate relief, but uncertainty remains.

On Wednesday, the Halifax municipality and the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) announced a new five-year agreement for the supplementary education fund.

A Halifax release said funding for social workers and library support will be phased out of this agreement over the next five years, with full implementation by Aug. 31, 2031.

“This approach ensures that changes are carefully planned and responsibly managed over time,” Halifax spokesperson Sarah Brannen said in a statement Wednesday.

Shelley McNeil, president of the CUPE local representing school librarians, said the news librarians will keep their roles for this fall is a relief following what she called months of silence from both HRCE and the city.

“It has been extremely stressful and difficult on all the members,” McNeil said. 

“This has been an ongoing thing. The supplementary funding has always been a concern, but to get a bit of reprieve with this announcement … we were definitely pleased with that.”

Regional council approved staff’s recommendation for an agreement that focuses financial resources on music and fine arts, while phasing out financial support for library support and social work, after a private in-camera session Tuesday. 

The motion passed eight votes to five, with councillors Virginia Hinch, Sam Austin, Shawn Cleary, Tony Mancini and Kathryn Morse voting against it.

Halifax’s supplementary education fund is the only one of its kind in Nova Scotia, and is one of two education funds the municipality is legally required to collect through property taxes.

It was created in 1996 during HRM’s amalgamation, and is required within the Halifax charter. The legislation states that council can only cut the fund by 10 per cent each year. 

Halifax spent about $12.7 million on the fund for the 2025-26 school year, with $2.5 million of that covering 75 librarians.

A staff report on the new agreement said Halifax will spend $12.6 million on the fund this 2026-27 fiscal year, with further reductions of $889,400 planned for each following year. 

As a result of these reductions, the report said the city can decrease the supplementary education tax rate on municipal property tax bills.

This will mean about a 0.5 per cent savings on average over the next three years for all residential, resource, and commercial properties, the report said.

If HRCE chooses to remove any librarian or social work positions as a result of the agreement, the report said any decreases “could be primarily done through attrition,” such as not filling vacant positions or retirements.

McNeil said the union will now urge the province to step up to fill any funding gaps in the coming years.

‘We will not let this go’ says union

“There’s still such uncertainty of how things will continue,” McNeil said.

“We will not let this go. We will continue to advocate and fight for the importance of these positions.”

Education Minister Brendan Maguire told CBC News on Wednesday he was happy to see the final agreement.

“It gives some, you know, consistency to those that are … working in those fields right now,” Maguire said.

When asked if the province would commit to replacing any funding for Halifax school librarians, Maguire said the department will have that conversation with HRCE to determine what is needed.

“I’d never say no, but what I would say is, you know, we just need to make sure, like with the limited resources we have, that we’re making sure it’s having the biggest impact. And librarians have a great impact,” Maguire said.

In a statement Wednesday, HRCE spokesperson Lindsey Bunin said the phased timeline for the agreement provides an opportunity for discussions and planning with the province on long-term funding and support for students and school communities.

HRCE is “actively looking to reduce costs in all departmental budgets,” Bunin said, and while there are no planned reductions, some positions that open due to attrition may not be filled.

“At this time, it would be premature to speculate on staffing impacts several years in advance,” Bunin said.

The staff report said the fund could still be used for social work and library support “if HRCE can provide evidence they have fully met their arts and music obligations, and they have HRM’s express written permission.”

HRCE is expected to provide Halifax with a transition plan within 90 days, outlining how and when they will adjust funding to meet the new agreement.

The report said the new agreement contains more transparency and data from HRCE showing how the fund supports students from historically marginalized communities, and ensuring fine arts and music programs are distributed equitably throughout the region.

Besides the supplementary fund, Halifax also has the mandatory education charge all municipalities collect for the province.

Mandatory education fund continues rising

In the 2026-27 budget, Halifax expects to collect and send $226.9 million to the province for mandatory education, an increase of about $16 million (seven per cent) over last year.

The staff report said the provincial education rate has not changed since 2013, so Halifax’s contributions are much higher than inflation since they are tied to property assessments which have risen considerably in recent years.

From January 2012 to February 2026, the report said the consumer price index rose by 36.8 per cent, compared to 113.5 per cent for Halifax’s mandatory education payments in the same time frame.

That amounts to an increase of $120 million in 14 years, going from $106.3 million to $226.9 million.

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