Health Services for Foreign Workers, International Students and Armed Forces Families
Regulations
made under clause 17(1)(e) of the
Health Services and Insurance Act
R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 197
O.I.C. 2023-133 (effective May 9, 2023), N.S. Reg. 80/2023
Table of Contents
Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.
Click here to go to the text of the regulations.
Citation
Definitions
Health services eligibility
Expiry of work permit, study permit, employment, etc.
Citation
1 These regulations may be cited as the Health Services for Foreign Workers,
International Students and Armed Forces Families Regulations.
Definitions
2 In these regulations,
“dependant” means a child or legal ward of an adult, who is younger than 19 years
of age, supported by an adult and who is not married or living in a common law
relationship;
“eligible foreign worker” means a resident who meets any of the following
requirements:
(i) they hold a valid work permit, issued by the federal Department of
Citizenship and Immigration, to work in the Province for a Nova
Scotian employer for a minimum of 12 months from the date they
became a resident of the Province,
(ii) they are party to an employment contract with a Nova Scotian
employer and under the employment contract are required to work in
the Province for a minimum of 12 months from the date they became
a resident of the Province,
(iii) they hold a diplomatic passport from a country other than Canada,
and are eligible to and demonstrate an intention to reside in the
Province for a minimum of 12 months from the date they became a
resident of the Province,
(iv) they are employed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
to work in the Province for a minimum of 12 months from the date
they became a resident of the Province,
(v) they are an international student who is working as either a teaching
or research assistant at a university in the Province.
“international student” means a resident who holds a study permit issued by the
federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration, valid for a minimum of 12
months from the date they became a resident of the Province;
“resident” means a resident as defined in the Hospital Insurance Regulations made
under the Act;
“spouse” means either of 2 people who are married to each other or are cohabiting
in a conjugal relationship and have done so for a continuous period of at least 1
year.
Health services eligibility
3 (1) Despite any requirement in the Act or its regulations respecting duration of
residency in the Province, all of the following people are entitled to insurance,
services and benefits as a resident under the Act and regulations immediately upon
becoming a resident of the Province:
(a) an eligible foreign worker;
(b) a resident who is a spouse or dependant of an eligible foreign worker;
(c) a resident who is a spouse or dependant of a member of the Canadian
Armed Forces;
(d) a resident who is a spouse or dependant of a member of the armed forces of
a North Atlantic Treaty Organization nation other than the United States of
America who is in the Province to perform official duties under the Visiting
Forces Act (Canada) for a minimum of 12 months from the date they
became a resident of the Province.
(2) Despite any requirement in the Act or its regulations respecting duration of
residency in the Province, an international student who is not an eligible foreign
worker, and a spouse or a dependant of that international student, is entitled to
insurance, services and benefits as a resident under the Act and regulations
effective on the first day of the thirteenth month from the date they became a
resident of the Province.
Expiry of work permit, study permit, employment, etc.
4 All of the following people are no longer entitled to insurance, services and benefits as a
resident under the Act and its regulations:
(a) an eligible foreign worker or international student whose work permit,
employment contract, diplomatic passport, term of employment or study
permit has expired or has been terminated and has not been extended or
renewed;
(b) a spouse or dependant of an eligible foreign worker or international student
described in clause (a);
(c) a spouse or dependant of a member of the armed forces of a North Atlantic
Treaty Organization nation other than the United States of America whose
visit under the Visiting Forces Act (Canada) has expired or been terminated
and has not been extended or renewed.
The following regulations are not
yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation: