Nova Scotia to index income assistance rates

 Date: Mar. 27th, 2024 - 5:26 PM

Community Services Minister Brendan Maguire at his swearing-in ceremony in February with Lt.-Gov. Arthur LeBlanc and Premier Tim Houston. (Communications Nova Scotia)

The Nova Scotia government will index social assistance payments after all.

The province announced Wednesday that it would index all income assistance payments annually based on the consumer price index. In 2024-25, rates will be indexed by 2.5 per cent.

The Progressive Conservative government was criticized earlier in March after it unveiled its budget, with no provision for indexing income assistance.

Community Services Minister Brendan Maguire pushed for indexing the rates when he was a Liberal opposition member. But he told reporters in early March that it wasn’t on the table right now.

On Wednesday, though, Maguire said it’s “another action being taken by government to help vulnerable Nova Scotians find success.”

The change will be implemented on July 1, with retroactive payments to April 1. Almost 24,000 Nova Scotians were collecting assistance as of Feb. 1. Indexing will cost about $7 million in 2024/25.

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