In this section you will find:
Components of welfare incomes
In Nova Scotia, households that qualify for basic social assistance payments also qualify for:
- Recurring additional social assistance payments from the province,
- Federal and provincial child benefits for households with children, and
- Federal and provincial tax credits and/or benefits.
Together, these components form a household’s total welfare income. Households may receive less if they have income from other sources, or more if they have special health- or disability-related needs.
Table 1NS shows the value of the welfare income components of the four example household types in Nova Scotia in 2024. All four households are assumed to be living in Halifax, receiving provincial social assistance starting January 1 and for the entire year, and earning no employment income. The child in the single-parent household is two years old and the children in the couple household are ten and 15. Other assumptions for calculating incomes are in the Methodology section.
Table 1NS: Components of welfare incomes for all example households in Nova Scotia, 2024
Total annual welfare incomes in 2024 ranged from $9,415 for the unattached single considered employable to $35,482 for the couple with two children. The income of the unattached single with a disability was $15,117 and that of the single parent with one child was $22,710.
Basic social assistance: The Standard Household Rate was increased as of July 1 for each of the example households, with a one-time retroactive payment to April 1.
The monthly benefit amounts increased from $686 to $704 for the unattached single considered employable, from $950 to $974 for the unattached single with a disability, from $962 to $987 for the single parent with one child, and from $1,393 to $1,428 for the couple with two children.
Additional social assistance: The couple with two children received the annual School Supplies Supplement, which provided $100 for the ten-year-old and $200 for the 15-year-old. These amounts were increased in August, on a one-time basis in response to inflation, from the 2023 amounts of $80 and $160.
In May 2024, Nova Scotia introduced a new Disability Supplement to provide additional financial support to recipients, their spouses, or dependent children aged 18+ who are living with a disability or chronic medical condition that prevents, or is expected to prevent, them from working for at least one year. The monthly supplement amount was initially set at $300 but was increased to $308 as of July 1; the additional $8 was paid retroactive to May 1, resulting in a total of $2,464 for the unattached single with a disability.
Federal child benefits: Both households with children received the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), which increased with inflation in July from $619.75 to $648.92 per month for a child under six years of age and from $522.92 to $547.50 per month for a child aged six to 17.
Provincial child benefits: Both households with children received the Nova Scotia Child Benefit (NSCB). Monthly amounts were $106.25 per child to $127.08 per child. These amounts remained unchanged in 2024.
Federal tax credits/benefits: All four households received the GST/HST credit, which increased with inflation in July. The unattached single households received $332.50 in basic GST/HST credit, the single parent with one child received $665, and the couple with two children received $1,015.
Two households received the GST/HST credit supplement. The unattached single with a disability received $16.17 while the single parent with one child received the maximum supplement amount of $175.
The federal Grocery Rebate, which was provided as a one-time GST/HST credit payment in response to high inflation in 2023, was not available in 2024.
All four households received the federal Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR), previously known as the climate action incentive (CAI). Both unattached single households received $433, the single parent with one child received $649.50, and the couple with two children received $866. These amounts reflected an increase over 2023.
Provincial tax credits/benefits: All four households received the Nova Scotia Affordable Living Tax Credit, which provided $255 per single adult or couple and $60 per child. These amounts remained unchanged in 2024.
Note that the Nova Scotia Poverty Reduction Tax Credit is not included in our calculations because households must have been receiving Income Assistance for the entire previous year to be eligible, which does not align with our methodology. More information about the assumptions used for calculating total welfare incomes is in the Methodology section.
Cost-of-living payments: Several jurisdictions, including the federal government, provided additional payments in 2022 and 2023 related to the increased cost of living resulting from high inflation. In 2024, Nova Scotia was one of only five provincial and territorial jurisdictions that continued to provide these payments. Federal inflation-related cost-of-living payments were discontinued in 2024.
As noted above, the couple with two children household received a one-time increase to the School Supplies Supplement of $20 for the ten-year-old and $40 for the 15-year-old.
See the Overview section for more information.
Changes to welfare incomes
Figures 1NS and 2NS show how the total welfare incomes for each of the four example household types have changed over time.
Note that the values are in 2024 constant dollars, not current dollars, and are calculated using the Canada Consumer Price Index (CPI). Using constant dollars takes into account the effect of inflation given that inflation reduces current dollar values over time. Also note that using the CPI for Nova Scotia would have resulted in a slightly different trendline.
Figure 1NS: Welfare incomes for example unattached single households in Nova Scotia 1986–2024, in 2024 constant dollars
The total welfare income of the unattached single considered employable declined between 1989 and 1997, fluctuated until 2006, then remained relatively stable until 2019. Their income increased between 2020 and 2022 and declined in 2023. The large decline in 1997 was due to the amalgamation of municipal and provincial social assistance systems, which resulted in much lower payments to recipients in the City of Halifax (then the Halifax Regional Municipality), where the example households reside. The increase in 2006 was primarily due to an increase in the basic social assistance shelter rate, and the 2020 increase was mainly due to federal COVID-19 pandemic-related payments as well as an increase in basic social assistance benefit amounts. Increases to basic benefits in 2021 and the addition of cost-of-living and Hurricane Fiona-related payments in 2022 largely mitigated the loss of pandemic-related payments and the impacts of high inflation, while their removal in 2023 combined with continued high inflation on unchanged basic benefit amounts led to a decline. In 2024, the very slight decline was mainly due to the loss of the federal Grocery Rebate. The welfare income of the unattached single considered employable was $9,415 in 2024, which is a 0.1 per cent decline compared to 2023, and a 20 per cent decline since the start of the time series, in constant 2024 dollars.
The total welfare income of the unattached single with a disability saw a steady decline until 2019; the dip in 2001 was largely due to the provincial social assistance system reform that saw lower interim basic rates applied for the first nine months of the year. Thereafter, their income increased through to 2022 and declined in 2023. The increase in 2020 was primarily due to COVID-19 pandemic-related benefits and an increase to basic social assistance benefits. Increases to basic benefits in 2021 and the addition of cost-of-living and Hurricane Fiona-related payments in 2022 largely mitigated the loss of pandemic-related payments and the impacts of high inflation, while their removal in 2023 combined with continued high inflation on unchanged basic benefit amounts led to a decline. The significant increase in 2024 was primarily the result of the new Disability Supplement introduced in May, as well as the increased Standard Household Rate amount. The welfare income of this household was $15,177 in 2024, which is a 19 per cent increase compared to 2023 but a 10 per cent decline since the start of the time series, in constant 2024 dollars.
Figure 2NS: Welfare incomes for example households with children in Nova Scotia 1986–2024, in 2024 constant dollars
The welfare income of the single parent with one child remained relatively stable until 1994, after which it gradually declined through to 2005; it had a small upturn in 2006 and then stayed fairly stable until 2014. Small increases through 2017 were followed by declines in 2018 and 2019, increases in 2020 and 2021, and further declines in 2022 and 2023. Increases from 2015 to 2017 can be attributed to changes in federal child benefits, while the increase in 2020 was largely due to federal COVID-19 pandemic-related payments; the additional increase in 2021 was primarily due to an increase to basic social assistance benefits and the addition of the COVID-19 pandemic-related Canada Child Benefit Young Child Supplement. The decline in 2022 was due to the loss of pandemic-related payments and the impact of high inflation on unchanged basic benefit amounts. The decline in 2023 was largely due to the loss of cost-of-living and Hurricane Fiona-related payments. The slight increase in 2024 was due to the increased Standard Household Rate. The welfare income of the single parent with one child was $22,710 in 2024, which is a 0.9 per cent increase compared to 2023, and a 2 per cent decrease since the start of the time series, in constant 2024 dollars.
The welfare income of the couple with two children saw greater fluctuations across the time series until 2014 and then generally followed the same trendline as that of the single parent with one child between 2015 and 2024. Increases between 2015 and 2017 can be attributed to changes in federal child benefits. Federal COVID-19 pandemic-related payments account for the increase in 2020, which was the high point across the time series, while the decline in 2021 can be attributed to the loss of these payments. The increase in 2022 was largely due to the addition of cost-of-living and Hurricane Fiona-related payments whereas the decline in 2023 was due to the loss of these payments. The increase in 2024 was driven by the increased Standard Household Rate amount. The welfare income of this household was $35,482, which is a 1 per cent increase compared to 2023, and an 18 per cent increase since the start of the time series, in constant 2024 dollars.
Adequacy of welfare incomes
The adequacy of a household’s total welfare income can be assessed by comparing it to established thresholds of poverty and/or low income.
Two measures of poverty are commonly used in Canada:
- The Market Basket Measure (MBM), Canada’s Official Poverty Line, identifies households whose disposable income is less than the cost of a “basket” of goods and services that represents a basic standard of living.
- The Deep Income Poverty (MBM-DIP) threshold identifies households whose disposable income is less than 75 per cent of the MBM.
Two measures of low income are also commonly used:
- The Low Income Measure (LIM) identifies households whose income is substantially below what is typical in society (i.e., less than half of the median income).
- The Low Income Cut-Off (LICO) identifies households that are likely to spend a disproportionately large share of their income on food, clothing, and shelter.
Note that MBM thresholds vary by province and community size, and LICO thresholds vary by community size. As such, we use the thresholds for the province’s largest municipality, Halifax, in the analysis below. Note also that we use after-tax LIM and LICO thresholds, and that the LIM thresholds for 2024 are estimates based on increasing the 2023 thresholds to account for inflation.
Also note that none of the poverty or low-income measures currently in use in Canada accounts for the higher cost of living faced by people with disabilities, and that these additional costs are not reflected in our analysis.
More information about the thresholds is available in the Methodology section.
A table containing comparisons of the welfare incomes of the four example household types in Nova Scotia with all four poverty/low-income thresholds is available for download.
Poverty threshold comparisons
The welfare incomes of all four example household types were below, and in some cases very far below, Canada’s Official Poverty Line (MBM) in 2024, and all four were below the Deep Income Poverty threshold (MBM-DIP). This means that all four Nova Scotia households were living not only in poverty in 2024, but in deep poverty.
Figures 3NS and 4NS compare 2024 welfare incomes for the four example household types to the 2024 MBM and MBM-DIP thresholds for Halifax.
Figure 3NS: Welfare incomes and poverty thresholds for example unattached single households in Nova Scotia, 2024
The unattached single considered employable had the lowest income relative to the poverty thresholds. Their income was $11,590 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $18,592 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was only 45 per cent of the MBM-DIP and only 34 per cent of the MBM.
The unattached single with a disability fared only slightly better. Their income was $5,888 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $12,890 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was 72 per cent of the MBM-DIP and only 54 per cent of the MBM.
Note that the poverty experienced by people with disabilities is underrepresented because neither the MBM nor the MBM-DIP accounts for the additional costs associated with disability. See the Methodology section for more information.
Figure 4NS: Welfare incomes and poverty thresholds for example households with children in Nova Scotia, 2024
The single parent with one child had a welfare income that was $6,995 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $16,897 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was 76 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 57 per cent of the MBM.
The couple with two children fared best of all four example households relative to the thresholds. Their welfare income was $6,528 below the Deep Income Poverty threshold and $20,531 below the Poverty Line. This means their income was 84 per cent of the MBM-DIP and 63 per cent of the MBM.
Low-income threshold comparisons
The welfare incomes of the example households were also below, and in some instances far below, the low-income thresholds, as shown in the table linked below.
The lowest income relative to these thresholds was that of the unattached single considered employable, whose total welfare income was only 30 per cent of the LIM and 36 per cent of the LICO. The highest income relative to these thresholds was that of the couple with two children, at 57 per cent of the LIM and 72 per cent of the LICO.
The income of the single parent with one child was 52 per cent of the LIM and 72 per cent of the LICO. The income of the unattached single with a disability was 58 per cent of the LIM and 58 per cent of the LICO.
Changes to adequacy of welfare incomes
Figures 5NS and 6NS show the total welfare incomes of each of the four example household types in Nova Scotia as a percentage of the Market Basket Measure (MBM) for Halifax, starting in 2002.
The black line at the top of each graph (i.e., the 100 per cent threshold) represents Canada’s Official Poverty Line. This means that the graphs show how far below the Poverty Line the four households’ total welfare incomes have been in each year over the past 23 years.
The grey line indicates the Deep Income Poverty threshold, which is 75 per cent of the MBM. The graphs therefore also show the relationship between total welfare incomes and deep poverty in each year over the past 23 years.
Three trendlines for each household are shown in the graphs. These lines illustrate the relationship between welfare incomes and changes made to the MBM due to “rebasing.” The two rebasings, occurring in 2008 and 2018, are indicated with a dotted vertical line. Rebasing updates the measure, including the items and costs included in the basket, to better reflect contemporary circumstances and typically creates a higher poverty threshold than that of a previous base. The trendlines demonstrate changes to household poverty levels within the years in which each base is applied. A trendline rise within those periods indicates an improvement in a household’s level of poverty while a decline indicates a deepening of their poverty. For the years in which rebasing took place (2008 and 2018), we include the percentage of welfare income relative to the MBM using both the previous and the new base to show how rebasing affects adequacy.
Note that fluctuations in the graph trendlines are due to a combination of changes in welfare incomes and the cost of living. Both factors must be considered when analyzing trends.
Figure 5NS: Welfare incomes as a percentage of the MBM for example unattached single households in Nova Scotia, 2002–2024
The welfare income of the unattached single considered employable was the least adequate relative to the Poverty Line of all the example households in Nova Scotia. Their income started the time series in 2002 at the very low level of 38 per cent of the Poverty Line and increased to 41 per cent in 2007 and 2008. After the 2008 rebasing, their income was 37 per cent of the Poverty Line, increasing only slightly over the next ten years to 40 per cent in 2017. After the 2018 rebasing, their income was 33 per cent of the Poverty Line; it increased slightly to 36 per cent in 2022 before falling back to 33 per cent in 2023. In 2024, their income increased to 34 per cent of the Poverty Line.
Overall, the welfare income of the unattached single considered employable declined from the already low level of 38 per cent of the Poverty Line in 2002 to an even lower 34 per cent in 2024. This represents a deepening of the poverty experienced by households in these circumstances, with a 2024 income that was slightly more than one-third of the Poverty Line and less than half of the Deep Income Poverty threshold. Given that their income was below the Deep Income Poverty threshold across the entire time series, households in these circumstances would have consistently lived in deep poverty for the last 23 years.
The welfare income of the unattached single with a disability started the time series at the higher level of 65 per cent of the Poverty Line then declined to 60 per cent in 2007 and 2008. After the 2008 rebasing, their income was 54 per cent of the Poverty Line. Their income relative to the Poverty Line remained relatively flat for the next ten years. After the 2018 rebasing, their income was 45 per cent of the Poverty Line; it increased to 48 per cent in 2022 before declining back to 45 per cent in 2023. Their income increased significantly to 54 per cent of the Poverty Line in 2024.
Overall, the welfare income of the unattached single with a disability decreased by 11 percentage points relative to the Poverty Line between 2002 and 2024; their income was also below the Deep Income Poverty threshold across the entire time series, which means that households in these circumstances would have experienced a deepening of their already deep poverty over the last 23 years.
Figure 6NS: Welfare incomes as a percentage of the MBM for example households with children in Nova Scotia, 2002–2024
The welfare income of the single parent with one child started the time series in 2002 at 64 per cent of the Poverty Line and increased to 69 per cent in 2007. After the 2008 rebasing, their income was 62 per cent of the Poverty Line; between 2008 and 2017, their income rose back to 69 per cent. A decline to 57 per cent after the 2018 rebasing was followed by an incline to 63 per cent in 2021 and declines in 2022 and 2023. Their income ended the time series at 57 per cent of the Poverty Line in 2024.
Overall, the total welfare income of the single parent with one child was 7 percentage points lower in 2024 than it was at the start of the time series in 2002. Given that their income was also below the Deep Income Poverty threshold across the entire time series, households in these circumstances would have seen a deepening of their already deep poverty over the last 23 years.
The welfare income of the couple with two children started the time series in 2002 at 66 per cent of the Poverty Line and followed a similar trendline to that of the single parent with one child. A decline after the 2008 rebasing was followed by increases to a peak of 74 per cent of the Poverty Line in 2017. After the 2018 rebasing, their income was 61 per cent of the Poverty Line; it dropped slightly in 2019, improved to 65 per cent in 2020, then dropped again to 63 per cent in 2021. Their income slightly increased again in 2022, before declining once more in 2023. In 2024, their income modestly increased and ended the time series at 63 per cent of the Poverty Line.
Overall, the welfare income of the couple with two children was 3 percentage points lower relative to the Poverty Line in 2024 than in 2002. This means that households in these circumstances would have seen a slight deepening of their poverty over the time series. Given that their income was also below the Deep Income Poverty threshold across the entire time series, households in these circumstances would have consistently lived in deep poverty for the last 23 years.
Access to data
The data for Nova Scotia is available for download, including:
- Components of welfare income for all households.
- Welfare incomes in 2024 constant dollars over time for all households.
- Welfare incomes in current dollars over time for all households.
- Adequacy of welfare incomes: a comparison of each household’s welfare income with all four poverty and low-income thresholds.
- Adequacy over time: each household’s welfare income relative to the Official Poverty Line (MBM) from 2002–2024.