{"id":61436,"date":"2026-01-02T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=61436"},"modified":"2026-01-02T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:30:00","slug":"n-s-announces-increase-in-income-assistance-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=61436","title":{"rendered":"N.S. announces increase in income assistance rates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"alignnormal\">[metaslider id=&#8221;56501&#8243;]<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HALIFAX:<\/strong> Nova Scotians receiving income assistance will see their payments increase this year, marking the second year rates have been indexed to inflation.<br><br>Payments will increase by 1.6 per cent in 2026.<br><br>\u201cRising costs for essentials like rent, groceries and utilities put real pressure on household budgets,\u201d said Barbara Adams, Minister of Opportunities and Social Development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy continuing to tie rates to the cost of living, we\u2019re providing more stability for individuals and families and reinforcing our commitment to supporting those who need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"alignnormal\">[metaslider id=&#8221;56526&#8243;]<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"alignnormal\">[metaslider id=&#8221;56506&#8243;]<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br>Disability Support Program participants receiving the standard household rate will also see an increase of 1.6 per cent.<br><br>This year\u2019s increase builds on other enhancements to the income assistance and disability support programs, including an increase in the standard household rates in July 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Connecting rates to the cost of living for clients ensures support keeps up with rising prices and provides greater peace of mind for individuals and families who rely on this support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ADVERTISEMENT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"alignnormal\">[metaslider id=&#8221;56179&#8243;]<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br>These changes reflect the government\u2019s commitment to supporting Nova Scotians facing financial challenges and addressing the added costs associated with inflation.<br><br><strong>Quick Facts:<br><\/strong>&#8211; as of December 1, there were 38,558 people in the Employment Support and Income Assistance Program, including 14,039 people who receive the disability supplement<br>&#8211; about 3,600 people in the Disability Support Program receive the standard household rate<strong><br><\/strong>&#8211; income assistance payments increased by 3.1 per cent in 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"alignnormal\">[metaslider id=&#8221;56530&#8243;]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HALIFAX: Nova Scotians receiving income assistance will see their payments increase this year, marking the second year rates have been indexed to inflation. Payments will increase by 1.6 per cent in 2026. \u201cRising costs for essentials like rent, groceries and utilities put real pressure on household budgets,\u201d said Barbara Adams, Minister of Opportunities and Social [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[957],"tags":[4253,4352,48,1077,9993],"class_list":["post-61436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-barb-adams","tag-income-assistance","tag-n-s","tag-nova-scotia","tag-rate-increase"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}