Focus on Children and Family
2012-2013
- Effective July 1, 2012, investing an additional $2.5 million to increase the Nova Scotia Child Benefit for 24,000 low-income families with children.
- Effective July 1, 2012, increasing the Affordable Living Tax Credit to $255 for an individual adult and to $60 for a dependent child, helping approximately 240,000 Nova Scotians.
- Expanding Succeeding in Reading (PDF) from grades primary to 1, into grades 2.
- Six community based summer programs named “Brain Power” will be implemented.
2011-2012
- Affordable Living Tax Credit indexed to keep pace with inflation to the benefit of 240,000 Nova Scotians.
- Nova Scotia Child Benefit was increased by over 20% per month for about 40,000 Nova Scotian children.
- 250 new child care subsidies introduced to help make child care more accessible for struggling families.
- New income guidelines for the Direct Family Support for Children program implemented to improve access for lower to modest income families.
- Support for families with children transitioning from Direct Family Support to adulthood introduced to help with costs between 18 and 19 years.
2010-2011
- Changed co-habitation policy within income assistance to enable families to form stable relationships without losing support.
- Shelter benefits within income assistance no longer reduced when a youth turns 19 if the youth is a college or university student living at home.
- Invested $70M in Affordable Living Tax Credit, benefitting more than 225,000 households.
- Created 700 additional child care subsidies and 920 child care spaces.
- Expanded the household income thresholds for housing repair programs and increased the maximum amount of assistance available under the provincial housing repair programs from $5,000 to $6,500.
- Supported children and parents with 20 family literacy programs across the province through the Family Learning Initiative Endowment fund of the Halifax Youth Foundation.
2009-2010
- Created 550 new child care subsidies and funded the creation of an additional 280 child care spaces.
- Provided funding for the literacy improvement initiative ($1,400,000), for literacy mentors ($1,545,000), and for math mentors/PD ($2,102,000).
- Invested $221,650 to support the expansion of co-op education in 32 schools
- Increased the income thresholds for the NS Child Benefit and Low Income Pharmacare for Children to $18,000 - $23,000 making 7,500 more children eligible for NSCB and LIPC.
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