Nova Scotia government writes off $12.2M in unpaid debt

Nova Scotia is writing off $12.2 million in unpaid or uncollectable debts at the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year on Tuesday, although the government says it will continue in its debt collection efforts.

The province writes off debts each year when it determines they are unlikely to be paid because of personal or commercial bankruptcy, death of the debtor or property foreclosure.

It says this year's bad debts mostly relate to uncollectable loans in the departments of Labour and Advanced Education, Economic and Rural Development and Tourism, and Agriculture, as well as unpaid fines and fees at Health and Wellness, Justice, Natural Resources and Service Nova Scotia.

Over the last 10 years, the average annual amount written off by the province is $13.2 million.

The province says the writeoffs don't affect departmental budgets or the deficit, and originate from previous fiscal years.