The provincial government says Nova Scotia’s second medical school campus is on track.

The state-of-the-art facility is set to open in the fall of 2025 at Cape Breton University.

A new medical sciences building will be the cornerstone of the campus, which will train family doctors with a special focus on rural health issues.

In March 2023, the province announced a $58.9-million investment to develop the campus, including $49 million for the medical sciences building and related infrastructure, $6.2 million for a new collaborative care clinic and $3.7 million to expand the health and counselling centre.

The province is investing $11.6 million to fund operations at the CBU site – a partnership with Dalhousie University’s faculty of medicine – for two years.

It will also provide $1.5 million in funding for five additional medical school seats at Dal starting this fall.

The Department of Advanced Education will determine a longer-term funding model to support the medical school once it has been operating for one year.

In a release, CBU’s president and vice-chancellor, David Dingwall says, “We are thankful that the Province of Nova Scotia recognizes and is swiftly addressing the healthcare needs of Nova Scotians, and we are thrilled that our priorities align in this manner. With a focus on family medicine and rural medicine, the Cape Breton medical campus will provide training that will greatly benefit the healthcare needs of many communities of Nova Scotians, including Indigenous and African Nova Scotian communities.”

Premier Tim Houston says, “We’re moving fast to address the needs of Nova Scotians, and we’ve made a lot of progress in just one year to deliver on our promise to fix healthcare.”

Houston adds, “A second medical school campus will make a big difference in improving access to care with more doctors for all Nova Scotians, and especially for those in rural parts of the province.”