Bill 39: Provincial Ambulance Service Act

This bill primarily affects EMC Emergency Medical Care Incorporated, the current private operator of ambulance services in Nova Scotia, whose operations would effectively be absorbed into a provincial government service. EMC paramedics and ambulance services staff would transition to become provincial government employees, with standardized wages benchmarked to national averages, full pension and health benefits, and union representation continuing under the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 727. The Nova Scotia Community College would also be impacted, as the bill requires funding and infrastructure to establish a new paramedic training program. Private sector businesses directly involved in ambulance service delivery in Nova Scotia face the prospect of being wound down or converted into a public entity.