Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been historically associated with the Red Tory[5] faction of Canadian conservatism.

Stanfield, the scion of a wealthy textile family, had considered himself socialist in university; though he later moderated his views, he always remained a progressive.

As premier, he led reforms in human rights, education, municipal government and health care and also created Industrial Estates Limited, a crown corporation that successfully attracted investment from world companies such as Michelin Tire.

After Stanfield left provincial politics to become leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party in 1967, G. I. Smith served as premier until 1970.

After taking office, he invested more in education and health care, implemented some tax cuts and sold or closed government-owned industries such as Sydney Steel.

[16] His government also passed tough lobbyist registration legislation, introduced smoking cessation initiatives, provided new funding for community college modernization and achieved historically high economic growth and employment numbers.

Through strategic investments in rural broadband infrastructure, MacDonald continued to expand high-speed internet access throughout the province.

[28] In the 2021 Nova Scotia general election, Tim Houston fought the campaign on a pledge to spend quite a bit to fix healthcare.

[30] According to the PC Party website, their mission is "to form a fiscally responsible, socially progressive government that promotes individual achievement and personal responsibility, is accountable to its citizens, listens to its people, embraces innovation, preserves the best of our unique heritage and diverse cultures and learns from the past".