As colder temperatures approach, some in Nova Scotia are raising concerns over heating costs and questioning the adequacy of the province’s assistance rebate program.
Halifax resident Miriam Williams has previously qualified for the Heating Assistance Rebate Program (HARP), but no longer does because of changing criteria.
“In a word, it’s unacceptable,” said Williams, who is also a leader with the tenant advocacy group, ACORN.
“This is not a handout by any means. This is just something that helps people get by.”
The program, which opened for applications Thursday for this season, offers eligible households up to $400.
Eligibility this year requires one of the following criteria:
- have a 2025 net income of $30,000 or less and live alone with no kids or dependents
- have a combined 2025 net household income of $45,000 or less and live with kids, dependents or other adults (to qualify as a single parent, you need to receive the Canada Child Benefit)
- receive Income Assistance from the Department of Opportunities and Social Development
- receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) or the Allowance from Service Canada
In past years, the province had expanded eligibility and raised the rebate value.
But the government made cuts last year, lowering the net income threshold for a family to qualify from $70,000 to $45,000, and lowering an individual’s threshold from $55,000 to $30,000.
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A government news release at the time said 118,287 applicants received the rebate in the previous fiscal year at a cost of $71 million, while as many as 72,000 households were expected to be helped in 2025-26 at a cost of $32 million.
In a statement Thursday, the NDP’s critic for Service Nova Scotia, Susan Leblanc, called on the Houston government to reverse changes to HARP.
“Last year, 64,000 Nova Scotians struggling to afford their heating costs were denied HARP because the Houston government changed the rules to make them ineligible,” she said.
“Those who could still qualify got $200 less. The department then left a third of its HARP budget unspent – money that could have made a real difference to the thousands of Nova Scotians who depend on this help.”
The NDP points out that the cost of heating oil has risen by 47 per cent since last year.
For Williams, she’s anticipating a tough winter ahead for herself and her neighbours.
“Most people that I know who live even just in this neighbourhood are about one bad paycheque away from losing everything. That’s a scary and stressful way to live,” she said.
The Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank’s director, Shelley Rose, says there’s now higher demand for her organization’s emergency assistance program.
That program has seen a 25 per cent annual increase in heating cost supports.
“What we hear all the time is just everything is so expensive,” said Rose.
“We are seeing an uptick in the amount of people that we are trying to help because people who would have had that rebate before don’t have it and need that extra help.”
And experts say Nova Scotia has one of the highest energy poverty rates in the country, which worsens an already difficult situation.
“Renters are struggling the most because they are paying for the heat and electricity, but they can’t choose how to upgrade or have little or no control (over) their heating system,” said Juli Bishwokarma, the Ecology Action Centre’s energy coordinator.
In a statement, Minister of Service Nova Scotia Jill Balser said she appreciates the financial pressures Nova Scotians face and that the $400 rebate will help with home heating costs alongside other government measures.
“Each year we look to deliver a program that can help as many people as we can with the resources we have. Our budget this year is just over $33 million at a time when the province is managing a $1.4 billion deficit,” she said.
“We will do more when we have more which is why it’s so important that we continue to work to create good jobs, grow the economy so we can maintain and strengthen programs like HARP.”
But Williams believes more should be done.
“Every penny counts in this economy. And the threshold being lowered even more is simply excluding families that still dearly need this,” she said.
“A household with two income earners will blow past that cap (of $400) in a matter of weeks … They really require this benefit to make it through the winter.”
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