Nova Scotia vowed to stop spending in the U.S. Here's how that's going

As U.S. President Donald Trump released his latest threat of a 35 per cent tariff on Canadian goods starting Aug. 1, Premier Tim Houston issued a statement calling the announcement from the White House "childish bullying" and said provincial procurement measures will stay in place. 

In February the province said it would "limit access" to provincial procurement for American businesses. 

Last week the province made data available to CBC News showing a breakdown of public tenders since last November by the winning vendor's location. 

Out of 1,226 tenders awarded between Nov. 1, 2024, and June 19, 2025, 966 of them — or about 79 per cent — went to companies that said they were based in Nova Scotia. 

Twelve per cent, or 146 tenders, went to Ontario companies. 

Companies based in the United States were awarded 21 tenders — just under two per cent. 

One tender was awarded to a company based in Berlin. 

Contracts include hospital food, pump track

Of the 21 contracts that went to suppliers based in the U.S., the largest was for just over $1 million to Sara Lee Frozen Bakery of Illinois, to supply food for health-care facilities starting in April 2025. 

That contract was procured by a group purchasing body that works for hospitals across Canada. 

Some other examples of public tenders that went to American companies included $539,000 to a Colorado firm to provide short-term rental compliance and monitoring services to the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and a Halifax contract worth $535,000 for a Missouri company to design and build a pump track for cycling in Bedford. 

In April, the province told CBC it had backed away from 11 contracts worth about $130,000. However, Premier Tim Houston defended sticking with an American company that was awarded a $70-million contract to work on the Macdonald bridge spanning Halifax harbour, saying there is no local option to do the work.