Nova Scotia - Nouvelle-Écosse

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

Government to Hold Poverty Reduction Consultations
October 10, 2007
(starting November 1)
The provincial government will hold a series of consultations this fall designed to get the community's input on how to best tackle poverty in Nova Scotia. The consultations will be part of the government's development of a poverty strategy for Nova Scotia. The initiative will be co-led by the departments of Community Services and Environment and Labour.
Source:
Department of Community Services

Poverty fight needs credibility
October 15, 2007
Many Nova Scotians would agree that the province needs a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy, especially to improve the lot of the 19,000 children living below what’s conventionally regarded as the poverty line. But now that the government is promising to develop, one the question is how sincere the Tories are and when we might see such a thing implemented.
The government is planning a two-day consultation with anti-poverty groups and other experts for Nov. 1 and 2, after which a public consultation is planned as well. The government has been studying anti-poverty strategies in jurisdictions such as Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Ireland.
Source:
The Cape Breton Post

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 Links:

Child poverty: setting new goals
November 24, 2004
CAROL GOAR
"Giving up is not an option. But clinging to a faded dream is not a solution.
So today, on the 15th anniversary of his parliamentary resolution to end child poverty by 2000, Ed Broadbent will set a new goal. He will challenge Canadians to reduce the child poverty rate to 5 per cent within 10 years. His new target lacks the tidy finality of the one he persuaded all MPs to endorse on Nov. 24, 1989, shortly before his retirement as leader of the New Democratic Party. It is less ambitious, less appealing.But Broadbent, who returned to active politics this year, believes it is realistic and achievable. He calls it 'a new agenda for a new time.'
The child poverty rate currently stands at 15 per cent. It was 15.2 per cent when Broadbent issued his clarion call 15 years ago."
Source:
The Toronto Star

Complete report:

One million too many: Implementing solutions to child poverty in Canada
2004 report card on child poverty in Canada [pdf, 12pp, 186KB]
November 24, 2004

Source:
Provincial Child Poverty Report Cards: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia
NOTE: click the link above to access current and historical poverty reports for all six provinces.

Source:
Campaign 2000

Employment Support and Income Assistance Report Released - Nova Scotia (welfare)
"The Community Advocates Network, an alliance of people on assistance, their organizations, advocates and allies, in partnership with the Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers, conducted a study of the effect of the Employment Support and Income Assistance program which has been in effect for more than two years. The report arising from this study was released at a press conference on December 16th, 2003."
Source:
News and Events
[ Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers ]

IMPACT! The effect of Nova Scotia's new income assistance system on people who need assistance
Complete report (PDF file - 155K, 23 pages)
November 2003

Homelessness in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM): A Portrait of Streets & Shelters
January 2004
"The Halifax Regional Municipality Planning and Development department has recently instituted a webpage devoted to housing and homelessness in the Halifax area. In PDF format the 89 page report The Portrait of Streets and Shelters represents the first effort of the Halifax Regional Municipality to support the need for base knowledge on homelessness and related social issues."
[ Halifax Regional Municipality ]
Source:
PovNet (BC-based poverty network)

Complete report:

The Portrait of Streets and Shelters (PDF file - 3.2MB, 89 pages)
January 2004

A Workbook on Food Security & Influencing Policy
Developed by the Food Security Projects
- incl. links to: Intro (Food for Thought) - What are we talking about? - Why care about food insecurity - What can we do about it? - What is policy? - How can we influence policy? - Strategies for Action - Resources and Tools - Fact Sheets and Handout - About this Workbook - How to use this Workbook - Questions Behind the Workbook - Acknowledgements - Bibliography

Bibliography and Useful Resources
- links to 50+ sites organized under the following headings : General Food Security Websites - Defining Food Security - Food Security, Families & Children, Communities, & Health - Food Security, the Environment and the Economy - Addressing Food Security - The Policy Process, Implementing Policy & Influencing Public Policy - Provincial/Territorial Food Security Groups

Source:
Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre
Nova Scotia Nutrition Council

Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU)

Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Card
November 2000
From the Annapolis Valley-Hants Community Action Program for Children
Excellent report - Includes links to the following: What - Define - How? - Statistics - Causes - Impacts - Ending - Contacts
View the report card online by clicking above, or...
Download the complete report (Word format, 17 pages, 376K)

Nodice Elections: Nova Scotia
Source:
Nodice Elections
- Go to the Political Parties and Elections Links in Canada (Provinces and Territories) page: http://www.canadiansocialresearch.net/politics_prov_terr.htm

GPI Atlantic PowerPoint Presentations - links to almost two dozen PowerPoint GPI presentations from various conferences and seminars from 2001 to 2003 on topics ranging from agriculture to smoke-free workplaces.

RealityCheck: The Canadian Review of Wellbeing is quarterly newsletter produced jointly by the Atkinson Charitable Foundation and GPI Atlantic. RealityCheck promotes the creation of a reliable and statistically valid Canadian Index of Wellbeing; reports on important existing indicator work measuring social, economic and environmental wellbeing in Canada; and ensures that these new measures of progress get the same policy attention that leaders, economists and journalists currently devote to tracking whether our economy is growing or shrinking.
- incl. links to four issues of the newsletter going back to October 2001

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
ACOA is a federal government agency headquartered in the Atlantic Region. ACOA's goal is to improve the economy of Atlantic Canadian communities through the successful development of business and job opportunities.

Five year report to Parliament, 1998-2003 (PDF file - 1.7MB, 86 pages)
Press Release (October 3, 2003)

Another Look at Welfare Reform (Autumn 1997)
- an in-depth analysis by the National Council of Welfare of changes in Canadian welfare programs in the 1990s.
The report focuses on the provincial and territorial reforms that preceded the repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan and those that followed the implementation of the Canada Health and Social Transfer.
Complete report online - large file (300K+) but well worth the wait for detailed information on welfare reforms in the 1990s in each Canadian jurisdiction, as well as a national overview of the broad issues of welfare reform and the setting for welfare reform in Canada
Source : National Council of Welfare

Atlantic Institute for Market Studies
- includes many reports and studies on CPP, transfer payments, UI reforms, pensions, the fishery, the welfare trap, etc.

Community Organization Network
"The Community Organization Network links people in Nova Scotia with disabilities and health challenges to resources and services that promote active healthy independent living"
Great resource for people with disabilities in Nova Scotia - hundreds of links to support organizations, and plenty of excellent content...

WORKink Nova Scotia - "The Virtual Employment Resource Centre"
Career and Employment Resources for Persons with Disabilities
- Links to a wide range of information for people with disabilities and those who support them.
Source:
Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work

Nova Scotia WorkinfoNET (NSWIN) - "Nova Scotia WorkinfoNET (NSWIN) is part of the pan-Canadian Canada WorkinfoNET partnership. Our goal is simple. We want to harness the delivery power of the Internet by creating a "clearing house" web site for dispensing information relevant to the needs of current and future members of Nova Scotia's work force".
Incl. links to information in the following areas: Financial Help and Issues - Jobs, Work and Recruiting - Labour Market Information and Outlook - Learning, Education and Training - Self Employment - Workplace Issues and Supports - Occupations and Careers

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the third periodic report of Canada : United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (June 10, 1998)
Nova Scotia Government Response to the List of Issues - November 1998

Links to Sites Working for Positive Social Change and Social Justice (Chebucto Community Net)

Child Care Connection
Halifax Regional Municipality Home Page
Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia
Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities
Virtual Nova Scotia Home Page