N.S. Premier Rodney MacDonald

As Nova Scotia businesses await a stimulus package expected sometime in March, some economists say time is already being lost in a rapidly deteriorating economy.

The province will be the last in Atlantic Canada to roll out a comprehensive package of infrastructure projects to help buttress against the global recession.

Lars Osberg, an economist at Dalhousie University, sees January's job losses in the United States and Canada as an indication action is needed sooner rather than later.

Osberg said that while employment in the U.S. "fell off a cliff" in September, Canada held steady until the last three months when it quickly caught up in proportional terms, losing 129,000 jobs in January.

He likened the job losses in the U.S. to an Atlantic storm front that typically moves up the coast across the border.

"This weather system is moving north and although it hasn't kicked in to the same extent, you don't need to worry because it's coming this way," Osberg said in an interview.

Last Tuesday, the province's minority Conservative government announced a $175-million injection for the cabinet-controlled Industrial Expansion Fund. The extra funding was the single largest increase in its history and nearly tripled the $60 million allocated in 2007-08.

Outside cabinet this week, Premier Rodney MacDonald took issue with the notion that his government is late in dealing with the downturn.

He said a comprehensive package would be announced in the coming weeks and Nova Scotia would be one of the only provinces in the country to move ahead with a balanced budget.

"I believe we're taking the corrective action where we should ... but we're going to do it in a well-planned, well-thought-out manner that makes sense to the taxpayer," MacDonald said.

Fred Morley, chief economist for the Greater Halifax Partnership, said stimulus should be brought to bear before an economy begins to stumble.

"It's very important for the province to move quickly on infrastructure," said Morley. "If you look at the U.S. example, they were able to move heaven and earth to get through a major stimulus package, almost $800 million, and they were able to do that in four weeks."

In neighbouring P.E.I., Treasurer Wes Sheridan said he realized after meetings with his provincial and federal counterparts last fall that the province would have to move quickly and decisively to "get out ahead of the curve."

Released in late November, the Liberal government announced $510 million in capital spending with the idea of giving contractors a head start on construction requirements.

Sheridan said the first set of tenders closed for 11 projects last Tuesday. A second round of tenders will be issued within the next two weeks, meaning 50 per cent of the planned spending for highways should be ready to go by the spring thaw.

In New Brunswick, where the Liberal government announced a $661 million capital plan in early December, $380 million will be spent on roads and bridges in fiscal 2009-10.

Like P.E.I., New Brunswick's transport minister said it's important to give construction companies as much lead time as possible, especially since they are dealing with an increasingly shrinking labour pool as people search for work in Western Canada and elsewhere.

"They'll know how many contracts they'll get, how much money they'll get to invest in their equipment and how many employees they'll be able to keep here in New Brunswick," said Denis Landry.

Landry said tenders have been called so far on 26 contracts for highway projects, with about 150 expected to be issued overall in 2009. He expects to have 85 tenders called before April.