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

  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 The regulatory amendments repealed the definition of a "home" and limited it to residential units with a kitchen and bathroom or municipally-approved rooming houses, effectively excluding tents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.

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• N.S. government changes income assistance rules to exclude people living in tents

  Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
  Date: 2026-08-27 12:01:07.0
  Tags: [Nova Scotia, Housing, Social Services, Affordability, Governance]

  The Nova Scotia provincial government, acting on the recommendation of Susan Corkum-Greek, Minister of Opportunities and Social Development, introduced regulatory changes via an order-in-council to exclude unhoused individuals living in tents from receiving enhanced income assistance rates. The regulatory amendments replace the term "accommodation" with "lives in a home" and narrow the definition of "home" to self-employed units, rented spaces, lodging houses, or single-occupancy rooms. This policy change directly overturns an August 5, 2026 Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling in favour of the late Bradley Lowe, which had established that individuals living in tents were eligible for enhanced disability and income support. Human rights lawyer Vince Calderhead criticized the policy as forcing vulnerable individuals deeper into poverty, while the department stated the changes provide clearer administrative direction.

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