FREDERICTON — The leader of New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservatives is promising to make financial literacy part of the school curriculum if his party wins the Oct. 21 election.

Blaine Higgs, who is seeking a third term in office as premier, said today he wants all students to enter adulthood with a better understanding of how money works.

The new curriculum would teach students about budgeting, bank accounts, interest rates, inflation, mortgages, leases, loans and RRSPs, among other things.

Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Susan Holt pledged that, if elected to govern, her party would overhaul the province’s approach to mental health and addiction care by adding community outreach workers to deliver frontline support.

She says these frontline workers would help school psychologists, which she said are in short supply.

Later in the day, Green Party Leader David Coon said a Green government would impose a 2.5 per cent rent cap as part of a broader plan to increase the supply of affordable housing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

The Canadian Press