A $700,000 fund for Nova Scotia publishers has been eliminated from the 2026-2027 Nova Scotia budget.

The Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association (AMPA) said Wednesday that publishers in the province received letters on Feb. 24, the day the budget was tabled in the provincial legislature, from the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage informing them that the government was eliminating the Nova Scotia Publishers Assistance Fund.

The annual fund offered recipients financial support “to increase the sustainability, export capacity and marketplace growth of the publishing sector in Nova Scotia.”

In a press release from the AMPA reacting to the news, Nimbus Publishing manager Terrilee Bulger called the move “drastic and devastating.”

“Books are an important pillar of our culture,” Bulger said. “This budget decision by Premier Tim Houston’s government will mean that fewer Nova Scotian creators will get their books published. Not only that, Nova Scotian publishers will be forced to lay off staff, and spend less on local freelancers.”

Formac Publishing CEO Jim Lorimer says the press will have to cut its list this year from 15 titles to seven with the loss of provincial funding.

AMPA says Nova Scotia-based publishers release more than 100 books, most written by local authors, every year.

Previous recipients of the annual funding include Nimbus Publishing, Conundrum Press, Fernwood Publishing, Moosehouse Press, Formac Publishing, Pottersfield Press, and Macintyre Purcell Publishing.

In a report today, the Halifax Examiner noted that almost 25% of the provincial cuts came in the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage. The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is seeing operating funding cuts and programs that sponsored writers and artists in schools have been completely eliminated as well. With significant cuts to the Nova Scotia arts and culture sector, the full impact on the literary community is yet to be evaluated.

“One of Tim Houston’s best qualities as a leader is that he has the courage to listen and the courage to change a government decision,” said Bulger. “I am hopeful that he will consider the damage this budget decision will have on local book publishers and the broader Nova Scotian cultural economy.”