N.S. budget doesn't raise income assistance rates, shocks anti-poverty advocates

Nova Scotians who receive income assistance won't see any increase in the coming year, according to the latest budget, troubling professionals who work in the social sector. 

Alec Stratford, the executive director of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers, said the stagnation of income assistance rates for the second year in a row during a time of high inflation will lead to "greater despair, greater demand, greater need for services that we are unable to deliver."

The budget shows $14.2 billion in revenue and $14.4 billion in expenses, with a deficit of $278.9 million. Most of the expenses — $6.5 billion, or 45 per cent of all government spending — will go toward health-care projects. 

But Stratford said making sure people have the necessary income to meet their basic needs would have a positive impact on their health.

"We're all here talking about the premier's mandate to fix health care," Stratford told reporters at Province House in Halifax. "There's nothing in this budget that would speak to the social determinants of health, which substantially decrease the demand for health care."

Advocates note that economic instability contributes to poor health around the world. 

Nova Scotia's poverty rate of 9.8 per cent was the highest in Canada in 2020, along with British Columbia which recorded the same rate, according to information collected by Statistics Canada in the 2021 Census. The national poverty rate was 8.1 per cent.

Opposition leaders Zach Churchill and Claudia Chender both told reporters they're concerned about income assistance not being increased. 

"They are freezing income assistance at a time when inflation is shooting through the roof," Churchill said. "We have a risk of the most vulnerable people in our society having worse health outcomes as a result of this budget."

But Finance Minister Allan MacMaster and Premier Tim Houston both said the government will focus on providing more "targeted supports" to help Nova Scotians. 

"We're trying to make sure that we're looking at the full picture and supporting people in the ways that we think we can best support them," Houston told reporters. 

This includes increasing the Nova Scotia child benefit by $8 million and adding $28.7 million to the Disability Support Program. There is $8.2 million aimed at homelessness and supportive housing initiatives, and the government will spend $21.6 million to add 1,000 new rent supplements, bringing the total in the province to 8,000.

MacMaster said the budget is "a set of estimates" and could change over time.

"We will always keep the door open to consider options as the year goes on," MacMaster said. "My hope is that we will see a good economy in the year to come ... but we always want to be mindful of those who are not as fortunate and we will continue to provide targeted supports."