‘Cruel’: Legal community questions N.S. move to exclude tents from higher income assistance

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Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
Date: 2026-09-01 21:51:03.0
Tags: [Nova Scotia, Housing, Social Services, Justice]

Following a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling on August 5, 2026, which established that tents count as legal accommodations for unhoused individuals to access higher income assistance, the provincial government revised its income assistance regulations on August 25, 2026. The regulatory amendments repealed the definition of a "home" and limited it to residential units with a kitchen and bathroom or municipally-approved rooming houses, effectively excluding tents from enhanced support rates. Human rights lawyer Vince Calderhead and Dalhousie Legal Aid criticized the change as discriminatory and harmful to unhoused individuals, while the province stated the amendments provide clearer and more consistent eligibility criteria.