Nova Scotia - Nouvelle-Écosse

Updated June 10, 2009
Page révisée le 10 juin 2009

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Nova Scotia voters elect 1st NDP government
June 9, 2009
"Nova Scotia has its first NDP government — and a majority government at that — ending a decade of rule by the Progressive Conservatives, who have been reduced to third-party status."
NOTE:
I guess this is what you call a seminal moment in Nova Scotia --- as of 6:30am on June 10, there are 510 comments on this article, predictably ranging from "Yayyyyyyyyyyy for the good side!" to "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!".

Related link:

N.S. anti-poverty plan focuses on housing, retraining
April 3, 2009
The Nova Scotia government is promising to spend millions of dollars on new housing and retraining as part of a multi-year strategy to reduce poverty. Community Services Minister Chris d'Entremont said the idea is to help low-income Nova Scotians by giving them proper shelter and a chance to get a job. Under the $155-million plan, people on income assistance only get a modest increase to offset the cost of living.
Source:
CBC Nova Scotia

Budget - skip down to the most recent NS budget

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Working Group has handed
government its recommendations on how to best tackle poverty in Nova Scotia
News Release
June 26, 2008
Group members come from organizations representing diverse interests, many of which work with people struggling with poverty. The group met every two weeks over the winter and spring to develop recommendations for the province's poverty reduction strategy. It presented its recommendations to Judy Streatch, Minister of Community Services, and Mark Parent, Minister of Labour and Workforce Development, co-leads for the strategy, at a meeting today, June 26.
(...)
Recommendations from the group include improving access to transportation, education and training for low-income Nova Scotians, more support for the disabled, a continued increase in supports to families during the early years of a child's life, a consolidation and enhancement of low-income pharmacare programs, and a change in description of the Employment and Income Assistance Program from a program of last resort to a simple program of support.

Report of the Nova Scotia
Poverty ReductionWorking Group (PDF - 129K, 41 pages)
Draft dated June 26, 2008
Target Areas for Action:
* Awareness and Engagement * Employment Supports and Income * Disability Issues * Transportation
* Education and Skills Training * Housing * Child Care and Early Childhood Development * Health

University welfare rules will help about 300 students
Province makes it easier for people on social assistance to improve their education
December 5, 2007
About 300 Nova Scotians on welfare have a better chance at a university education under changes to a provincial program that take effect in January. Community Services Minister Judy Streatch said last week that changes to the Career Seek program were coming soon, and she released details Tuesday. The program, announced in October 2006, allowed people on income assistance to pursue a post-secondary program of more than two years while collecting benefits. Critics said the eligibility rules were much too strict, and they pointed to the fact only two people have enrolled as proof.
Source:
The Chronicle-Herald (Halifax)

New Child and Youth Strategy Released
December 3, 2007
Nova Scotia's kids can now get more out of life, thanks to a new Child and Youth Strategy released today, Dec. 3. Community Services Minister Judy Streatch released the strategy titled Our Kids Are Worth It. (...) The strategy provides a range of services from prevention to intensive intervention. It is a combination of an expansion of existing services that work and an introduction of new services.
Some highlights include:
-- outreach and support for families raising children
-- shorter wait times and improved mental health services
-- co-ordination of professionals and programs
-- youth navigators, a partnership with Kids Help Phone and a new website for youth information and support
-- new programs for at-risk youth
-- provincial youth advisory network

Report to the Community 2007 (PDF file - 415K, 2 pages)
May 18, 2007
- this two-page pamphlet outlines Community Services work in the province --- Employment Support and Income Assistance (50,000 people assisted per year), family and children's services (23,000 children received protection services), services for people with disabilities (50,000 people benefited) and housing (20,000 Nova Scotians in social housing).

Business Plan 2007-2008 - Department of Community Services (PDF file - 250K, 25 pages)
March 23, 2007
"(...) The primary responsibility of the Department of Community Services is to ensure the basic needs of individuals and families are met by protecting children and adults at risk, and by providing financial support to persons in need. Most of the department’s expenditures are in the form of direct payments to clients in need of financial assistance or to service providers who provide residential, vocational, child care, housing, protection and other social services on behalf of the department.."

Source:
Publications and Reports
- links to over two dozen links to business plans, accountability reports and other reports dealing with housing and services for children and families

Income Assistance for Post-Secondary Education (Nova Scotia)
October 26, 2006
The Department of Community Services is creating opportunities for eligible income assistance recipients to get the education they need for a brighter future. Community Services Minister Judy Streatch announced today, Oct. 26, a new pilot program called Career Seek which will allow income assistance clients to attend university or a post-secondary education program of more than two years and still receive benefits from the income assistance program. (...) Individuals who have received income assistance for 12 months and have identified a post-secondary education as part of their employment plan, are eligible to apply for Career Seek. Over the next four years, 50 individuals each year will have an opportunity to participate in this program. The first participants could start their programs as early as January 2007.

Critics slam school assistance program
October 26, 2006
A pilot program that will allow 50 people on social assistance to keep their money while attending university comes up short, critics charge. "I would have thought this program would have been better thought out by the time we got here today," Liberal MLA Stephen MacNeil said Thursday as the program was announced. Community Services Minister Judy Streatch says Career Seek will help people on social assistance go to university or an educational program longer than two years. To qualify, applicants must have received assistance for a year and have chosen post-secondary education as part of their job plan. They also have to complete a career assessment to find the right courses to get a job. (...)Streatch says 200 people will take part in the program over the next four years, with the first participants starting class in January. The province has been cutting social assistance for people who want to go to university since 1999.
Source:
CBC.CA

New Job Opportunities for Income Assistance Recipients
News Release
September 22, 2006
Nova Scotians who receive income assistance now have more options to help them on their journey back to work and to earn some extra money, thanks to a new program from the Department of Community Services. Harvest Connection is a voluntary program that links income assistance recipients to job opportunities in rural communities during harvest season. Individuals who have received income assistance for six months can earn up to $3,000 a year, on top of their basic income assistance, by harvesting crops like apples, vegetables and Christmas trees.

Pharmacare for Children of Low-Income Families
August 30, 2006
Thousands of low-income families will receive help with the cost of prescription medications for their children when Low Income Pharmacare for Children begins, Oct. 1. Premier Rodney MacDonald and Community Services Minister Judy Streatch announced today, Aug. 30, that applications are now available for Low Income Pharmacare for Children. The program will help up to 35,000 children under the age of 18 whose families receive the Nova Scotia Child Benefit.

Minister Encourages Income Assistance Recipients to Receive Maximum Benefits
News Release
August 28, 2003
"Community Services Minister David Morse is encouraging all people who receive income assistance and have children under the age of 18 to file any outstanding income tax returns to ensure they receive the maximum benefits available to their children."

$500,000 for Child Care Resource and Referral Services
November 20, 2002
"Young Nova Scotians are growing up great through Early Childhood Development initiatives. The province announced the allocation of $500,000 to establish 10 Child Care Resource and Referral Services across the province today, Nov. 20, National Child Day."

Province Announces Early Childhood Funding
Department of Community Services
November 27, 2001
The Department of Community Services will immediately begin allocating $7.6 million in federal funding to improve community-based services to young children and families and to stabilize the licensed child-care sector in the province. A further $1.5 million of the $9.1 million allocated for 2001 is earmarked for a comprehensive home-visiting program now being planned by the Department of Health for implementation at a later date

Family Assistance Program
Department of Community Services
August 27, 2001
The Family Assistance Program provides $250 to families that have a net income less than $16,500 and have one or more children under the age of 19. To be eligible, families must not have received any form of income assistance for more than three months in 2000.

New Assistance System Addresses Fairness
Department of Community Services
July 13, 2001
Nova Scotia is about to usher in a new social assistance system with a common rate structure for all social assistance recipients. On Aug. 1, the new Employment Support and Income Assistance Act comes into effect.

New Social Assistance Regulations
Department of Community Services
March 23, 2001
The Nova Scotia government has approved new social-assistance regulations to help people move toward self-sufficiency and to help reduce poverty -- especially child poverty.

Province Introduces Legislation to Redesign Social Assistance
Department of Community Services
October 26, 2000
The proposed Employment Support and Income Assistance Act will replace the existing Family Benefits Act and most provisions of the Social Assistance Act. The section of the Social Assistance Act that supports the Community Supports for Adults program and long-term care will remain in effect.

New Social Assistance System Promotes Self-reliance
Department of Community Services
October 25, 2000
The new program, to take effect August 1, 2001, will provide enhanced supports to help people secure employment by developing individual plans for gaining self-sufficiency skills.

New Income Assistance System for Nova Scotia
June 12, 2000
Nova Scotians are being asked to comment on the redesign of the province's income assistance system. The new system, which comes into effect in April of 2001, will help people become more self-reliant. People can make submissions on this final phase of income assistance reform to the department by July 31st, 2000.

Social Assistance Restructuring Updated
May 18, 1999
Press Release
(the report itselfis no longer available online)

Applications for Nova Scotia's new Family Assistance Program are now available
July 25, 2000
Replaces the previous Direct Assistance Program, doubles the amount of money available to qualified families.
Provides $250 annually to families that have a net income of $16,500 or less and have one or more children under the age of 19.
Qualified families must not have received any form of income assistance for more than three months in 1999.

Gone but not forgotten:

Family Mosaic Project
(longitudinal study of lone-parent and two-parent families)
http://tinyurl.com/26nfob
NOTE the link to the first PDF file on the page is broken but the rest work fine.

"This study was project-funded and designed to be used internally by the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services. According to the project coordinator, since the project is now complete, there is no internal process in place for continued access to the data. Also, there is no money available to make the data accessible for external use."
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/canada/regions/atlantic/Publications/Tides_of_change/biblio_e.html

Family and Children's Services - includes Adoption * Adoption Disclosure * Child Abuse Register * Child Protection Services * Children in Care * Early Childhood Development Services * Foster Care Services * Prevention and Family Violence * Secure Care

Senior Citizens' Secretariat

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations

Online interactive and information services of the Government of Nova Scotia

Finance

Home page/sitemap
Budget Documents (1995-96 to date, all on one page)
Public Accounts - 1996 to date
Economic Indicators
News Releases
Publications

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Nova Scotia Budget 2006-2007 - main page, includes links to all budget papers

Budget Papers and Budget Bulletins - 15 budget documents, mostly bulletins,
for example:
- Budget Bulletin: Focus on Families in Need - increases to income assistance rates and foster care allowances, extension of Pharmacare to cover kids in low-income working families and improvements to affordable housing and home repair programs
- Budget Bulletin: Families - "[T]he province will provide a credit to parents to offset provincial taxes on the full value of the federal Universal Child Care Benefit." --- also includes Protecting Homes and Neighbours, Protecting Consumers, Making Smart Energy Choices, Provincial Parks and Studying the Impact of Gaming

N.S. tables tax-cutting budget on eve of election
May. 9 2006
Canadian Press
HALIFAX -- Nova Scotia's ruling Conservatives offered a voter-friendly budget Tuesday loaded with tax cuts and generous spending as the province gears up for an election call - expected within days. Rookie Premier Rodney MacDonald is borrowing a pre-campaign pledge from the New Democrats, promising to give consumers a rebate equivalent to the eight per cent provincial sales tax on soaring home heating bills.
Source:
CTV

Google.ca News Search Results:
"Nova Scotia Budget 2006"
Google.ca Web Search Results:
"Nova Scotia Budget 2006"
Source:
Google.ca

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Nova Scotia Budget 2005-2006
April 26, 2005
- incl. links to all Budget 2005-06 documents: Budget Address - Highlights - Bulletins - Estimates Supplementary Detail - Crown Corporation Business Plan - Government Business Plan - Business Plans - Other Budget Links

Budget Address (HTML)
Budget highlights (PDF - 289K, 2 pages)
"(...) More Support for Nova Scotians in Need --- Well over $40 million more will be spent to support the needs of seniors, Nova Scotians with disabilities, and families of modest means. New dollars will be targeted to increase the number of low-incoming housing units and subsidized daycare spaces; make more buildings wheelchair accessible and accessible transportation more affordable; increase the shelter allowance for single income assistance recipients and the personal allowance for all social assistance recipients; triple the funding for the early treatment of autism; provide more support for adults in care; expand personal care hours to home care clients; and expand Self-Managed Attendant Care."

Google.ca News Search Results : "Nova Scotia Budget 2005"
Google.ca Web Search Results : "Nova Scotia Budget 2005"
Source:
Google.ca

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Nova Scotia Budget 2004-2005
April 22, 2004
- incl. links to all Budget 2004-05 documents, including Address and Highlights (see below), as well as budget bulletins, the Government Business Plan, the Crown Corporation Business Plan, Estimates and more
Budget Address
Budget Highlights (PDF file - 409K, 2 pages)

Google News search Results : "Nova Scotia, budget 2004"
Google Web Search Results : "Nova Scotia, budget 2004"
Source:
Google.ca

For info on other Canadian jurisdictions' budgets, go to the Canadian Social Research Links Canadian Government Budgets page

Environment and Labour

Nova Scotia Legislature

Bills, Statutes and regulations
Monthly Checklist

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Justice

Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission

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Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women (NSACSW)
The Advisory Council was established in 1977 to educate the public and advise the provincial government on issues of interest and concern to women. Check out the home page (by clicking above) or go to the Council's Publications page - it offers an impressive choice of reports, fact sheets and media releases, including:

Building Transitions to Good Jobs for low Income Women
July 7, 2004
By Stella Lord and Anne Martel
"This report is about low-income women in Nova Scotia and their options for moving out of poverty. It was prepared for the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women on the recommendation of its Round Table on Women’s Economic Security. The report focuses on what kind of transition-to-employment strategies and best practices would provide a better foundation to enable women in Nova Scotia to move out of poverty into more stable, well-paid employment."

Complete report (PDF file - 249K, 70 pages)
Summary and Recommendations (PDF file - 150K, 7 pages)

Report Highlights Women's Economic Inequality Double Workload
June 14, 2004
Status of Women
"Nova Scotia women are still striving for economic equality and a better balance of responsibilities at work and at home, according to a statistical report released today, June 14. Women's Paid and Unpaid Work is the fifth report in a series from the Advisory Council on the Status of Women."
News Release
Backgrounder (PDF file - 8K, 2 pages)

Complete report:

Women’s Paid and Unpaid Work (PDF file - 169K, 67 pages)
Women in Nova Scotia (Part 5 of a Statistical Series)

Advisory Council Publications - impressive list of reports, studies, briefs and statistics, including Informational and Statistical (where you'll find links to earlier reports in this statistical series)

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Employment Insurance Changes Needed
Status of Women
May 7, 2004
"Mothers need better support from the federal government to help care for their families, the chair of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women says in an open letter to Liza Frulla, Minister of Social Development, and Joseph Volpe, Minister of Human Resources Development."
- incl. a copy of the open letter
Source:
Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women
[ Government of Nova Scotia ]

Related link:

Poverty issue still percolating
Editorial
September 8, 2008
The latest report from GPI Atlantic on poverty in the region reaches back 21?2 millennia to quote Aristotle’s observation that “revolutions arise from inequalities.” That’s followed with a more contemporary reference to 2005 riots in France, “a poignant reminder of the potential consequences of marginalizing the poorest households.”
Source:
The Cape Breton Post

Economic Security in Nova Scotia (PDF - 1.7MB, 66 pages)
July 16, 2008
The report uses an aggregate index, based on security from the economic risks imposed by four key factors – unemployment, illness, old age, and single parenthood – to examine trends in economic security in Nova Scotia from 1981 to 2007. It concludes that economic security in Nova Scotia decreased during the 1981-2007 period.
Source:
Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS)

Other CSLS reports - 50+ links to reports going back to 1997

Cost and Affordability of a Nutritious Diet in Nova Scotia:
Report of 2007 Food Costing (PDF - 1.3MB, 28 pages)
Released April/2008
A project of the Nova Scotia Food Security Network in partnership with community partners, the Department of Health Promotion and Protection, and Mount Saint Vincent University

Related link:

Rising food costs hitting home
Already many in Nova Scotia can’t afford to eat properly
June 11, 2008
"(...) The 2007 food costing research found that many households in our province, especially families who are getting by on low-wage incomes or social assistance, simply cannot afford to fill their cupboards and refrigerators with healthy foods.
(...) A woman raising two children on a minimum wage paycheque is at especially high risk for food insecurity, according to the project’s 2007 findings released this spring. Every month, after all the expenses of shelter, utilities, transportation, clothing and food are factored in, this young mother would be in a deficit of $8.31. She’d be even worse off when her little girl turned six and she no longer received the Universal Child Care Benefit of $100 a month. If that same woman were on welfare, she would have $127.96 a month to spend on "extras," but only if she were receiving additional financial assistance to go to school or look for work. Without that extra money, she would be even further behind...."
Source:
Halifax Chronicle-Herald

COMMENT : The Welfare Wall
[By Gilles]
The preceding paragraph comparing the financial situation of a woman with two kids on welfare vs minimum wage income is a good illustration of what is called "the welfare wall" in welfare reform parlance. All Canadian welfare programs offer some types of non-cash assistance assistance to their clients, such as coverage for prescription drugs, dental and vision care - although these types of aid are generally limited by restrictive terms and conditions (e.g., some provinces require an employable person to be in receipt of welfare for a specified time period before they qualify for non-emergency dental care).

In the above example, the household on welfare would have just under $130/month left after paying for shelter, utilities, transportation, clothing and food. If the head of that household gets a full-time job at minimum wage (which is not likely, since most minimum wage earners don't work for the full year), the family would be $8 in the hole each month --- hardly an incentive for someone to make the leap to the workforce. Recognizing this, several jurisdictions offer special work-related allowances for such things as transportation and work-appropriate clothing to encourage people to join or rejoin the labour force, and many also offer extended coverage for some non-cash health-related benefits. Note that these are not new options in the ongoing efforts to reform Canadian welfare programs --- the Canada Assistance Plan (federal legislation that enabled federal contributions to provincial welfare costs) shared in the cost of these incentives from 1966-67 until it was replaced in 1996 by the Canada Health and Social Transfer.

Child poverty in Nova Scotia: The facts (PDF file - 370K, 9 pages)
November 24, 2007
By Pauline Raven, Lesley Frank and Renee Ross

Related link:

Campaign 2000 Report on Child and Family Poverty in Canada
Main page - includes links to both the French and English media releases and reports, as well as links to national report cards for previous years and for selected Canadian provinces.
[ Campaign 2000 ]

How to reduce poverty? Begin by knocking down barriers
By Katherine Reed
Letters/Opinion
September 26, 2007
It won’t be difficult to identify the causes of poverty in this province and to lay out strategies for dealing with them. Just ask a few poor people what would turn their economic fortunes around. You’ll probably come away with a list like this: a higher minimum wage, more affordable housing, a better welfare system, reforms to the Employment Insurance system so that most (instead of less than half) of the unemployed can get benefits, a provincewide affordable and accessible public transportation system, affordable post-secondary education, affordable child care, and sustainable rural economic development.
Source:
The ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax

Service Canada Regional Information:
Nova Scotia
This page provides information on region-specific services for Individuals, Business and Organizations.
Services include: Jobs * Financial Benefits * Employment Insurance * Taxes * Training and Careers * Identification Cards * Travel and Passports * Health * Consumer Information * Canada and the World * Environment and Resources * Economy * Public Safety * Culture and Recreation * Science and Technology.
Source:
Service Canada
Human Resources and Social Development Canada

Council of Atlantic Premiers
This web site provides information on:
* the Council of Atlantic Premiers (CAP),
* the Council of Maritime Premiers (CMP), and
* the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (NEG/ECP)
The website also provides convenient online access to Council publications, employee contact information, and to regional agencies and organizations as well as providing information on Working Together for Atlantic Canada: An Action Plan for Regional Co-operation (PDF- 492k, November 8, 2001).

Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group (NSPIRG)
NSPIRG is a non-profit, non-partisan social and environmental justice research and resource centre. Our mandate is to empower, educate, and inspire action on social justice and environmental issues at Dalhousie University, as well as in the broader Halifax community and Nova Scotia generally. We are a student and volunteer-driven organization working within an anti-oppression framework, and providing a range of events, opportunities, working groups, and campaigns to community members.
- incl. links to: Home - About Us - Events Calendar - Working Groups - Library - Funding - Links - Media - Contact Us - Advanced Search - Single Mothers' Survival Guide

Single Mothers’ Survival Guide - (Nova Scotia focus)
2006
In 1989, single mom and activist Brenda Thompson, published the first Single Mothers’ Survival Guide. The guide recognized the economic, social, and political hardships experienced by single mothers and offered specific and practical information on how to cope when living in poverty in the metro-Halifax area. This is the online version of the fifth edition of the book.

- incl. links to : Introduction - Single Mothers and Poverty Laws in NS - Social Assistance - Attitudes Towards "Welfare" Mothers - Legal Aid - Maintenance and Child Support - Children's Aid and Child "Welfare" - Employment - Education - Daycare - Housing - Transition Houses - Food and Food Banks - Sex Lives of Single Moms! - How To Become Politcally Active - Single Mothers Speak - Numbers to Know in Nova Scotia

Workfare program fails women: report
May 25, 2006
"Provincial rules designed to get people off welfare and into the workforce are not working, according to a new study.The research project was done on behalf of women's centres in Antigonish, Sydney and Pictou County. The report, Struggling to Survive, was released Wednesday.Co-ordinator Rene Ross travelled to 11 communities last summer and spoke with 91 women who were on or had been on the Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) program. (...) The report makes several recommendations, including abolishing the parental leave policy, raising the allowance rates by $75 a month, and letting women keep a greater share of their earnings."
Source:
CBC News Nova Scotia