Nova Scotia bills

This bill amends Nova Scotia's Building Code Act to explicitly permit mass timber as a building material for structures up to 25 storeys tall, overriding any conflicting provisions in the existing Building Code.

This Nova Scotia bill regulates how and when non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) can be used in settlement agreements involving allegations of harassment or discrimination, making NDAs largely voluntary for the affected person and void if certain protective conditions are not met.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Patient Safety Act to require health authorities to set up formal complaint systems for adverse patient events and directs the Minister of Health and Wellness to establish a patient safety and quality advisory committee.

This Nova Scotia bill establishes the Local Grocery Infrastructure Fund to provide financial grants to small, independently owned grocery stores for renovations, equipment upgrades, energy efficiency improvements, and accessibility enhancements.

This bill amends Nova Scotia's Hospitals Act to require every hospital in the province to have a prayer room and meditation area on site, accessible to patients, families, visitors, staff, volunteers, and healthcare professionals.

This Nova Scotia bill replaces the existing Private Investigators and Private Guards Act with a new, comprehensive licensing and regulatory framework for security guards, armed guards, private investigators, and security agencies operating in the province, effective January 1, 2026.

This Nova Scotia bill requires the Minister of Health and Wellness to ensure that patients diagnosed with category C or D breast density are automatically referred for breast screening ultrasounds, classifying these ultrasounds as routine care for those patients.

This bill amends Nova Scotia's Public Utilities Act to require the Nova Scotia Energy Board to commission an independent third-party savings review of Nova Scotia Power Incorporated within 30 days of the law coming into force. The review must examine Nova Scotia Power's cost of service, its handling of a March 2025 cybersecurity incident, reliability performance, coal dependency, and grid investment decisions.

This Nova Scotia bill expands the category of vehicles that must be treated like emergency vehicles when stopped on a roadway with flashing lights, adding Department of Public Works and municipal vehicles, and allows tow trucks and roadside service vehicles to use red and amber flashing lights.

This Nova Scotia bill requires the Minister of Growth and Development to appoint an expert panel to assess the provincial economy and develop a 10-year economic growth strategy, completing a report within 12 months of appointment.

This Nova Scotia bill requires the Minister of Housing to develop and publish a Provincial student housing strategy within 12 months, addressing affordability, supply, and barriers to student housing construction.

This bill amends Nova Scotia's Workers' Compensation Act to update benefit calculations, expand presumptive cancer coverage to Department of Natural Resources and Office of the Fire Marshall employees, modernize survivor and death benefit rules, increase annual benefit indexing to the full CPI change (capped at 3%), and give the Workers' Compensation Board and regulations more flexibility over deadlines and formulas.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Time Definition Act to change the province's time zone offset, effectively moving Nova Scotia from Atlantic Time (UTC-4 in summer) to Atlantic Standard Time year-round (UTC-3), eliminating daylight saving time — but only if New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island make the same change.

This Nova Scotia bill establishes a Weatherization Assistance Program offering grants of up to $10,000 to lower-income households (under $98,900 gross annual income) to improve home energy efficiency through insulation, heat pumps, air-sealing, and related upgrades.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act to void any lease clause or landlord rule that prohibits tenants from keeping animals, and restricts the Director of Residential Tenancies from evicting a tenant solely based on pet ownership unless specific conditions are met.

This Nova Scotia bill requires the Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) to conduct a comprehensive review of the markup rates applied to locally produced craft beer, with a focus on whether a progressive or graduated markup structure could better support small-scale brewers.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Fair Drug Pricing Act to eliminate late enrolment penalties and copayments for seniors enrolled in the provincial Seniors' Pharmacare Program.

This Nova Scotia bill creates a suite of protections for small businesses (under $3M revenue, 50 or fewer employees) including mandatory prompt payment with interest on commercial contracts, a new Small Business Commissioner to handle complaints and disputes, and a commercial rent cap tied to CPI for eligible small business and charitable tenants.

Nova Scotia's Free Trade and Mobility within Canada Act removes trade and licensing barriers between Nova Scotia and other provinces or territories that pass equivalent legislation, meaning goods approved elsewhere are accepted in Nova Scotia and workers licensed elsewhere can work in Nova Scotia without additional requirements.

This Nova Scotia bill creates a Small Business Commissioner to help small businesses (under 100 employees) resolve disputes with landlords, other businesses, and government bodies through low-cost mediation, and introduces new tenant protections for commercial leases terminated for demolition or redevelopment.