Nova Scotia bills

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Labour Standards Code to introduce a 'living wage' concept, requiring the Province and its contractors to pay a living wage, eliminating a lower wage rate for inexperienced workers, and deeming reductions in employee benefits as wage cuts.

This bill narrows the scope of a 1983 Nova Scotia law so that the Town of Kentville's special taxation authority over the Annapolis Valley Regional Industrial Park applies only to industrial and manufacturing properties, including food storage, processing, and packaging businesses — no longer covering commercial properties broadly.

Keira's Law requires the Chief Judge of Nova Scotia's Provincial Court to establish mandatory education courses for judges on sexual assault law, intimate partner violence, coercive control, and social context including systemic racism. It also mandates annual reporting to the Attorney General on these training activities.

This Nova Scotia private member's bill directs the provincial government to increase funding to the justice system to hire more judges and Crown attorneys, with the goal of reducing how long it takes for cases to move through Provincial Court.

This Nova Scotia bill makes several amendments across justice and social services legislation, including allowing electronic signatures for beneficiary designations, extending emergency protection orders up to one year, expanding support services for former youth in care up to age 25, and integrating social workers into the Regulated Health Professions Act.

This Nova Scotia omnibus justice bill makes a wide range of amendments to provincial legislation, most notably enacting a new Civil Forfeiture Act that allows the province to seize and forfeit property linked to unlawful activity, and also updates rules around child support calculations, jury eligibility, probate procedures, and administrative processes for several justice-related bodies.

This Nova Scotia bill makes a wide range of administrative and procedural changes to the justice system, including abolishing the Family Court (merging it into the Supreme Court Family Division), modernizing the Powers of Attorney Act with new rules for attorneys and donors, establishing an automatic repeal process for unproclaimed legislation, and updating the Provincial Court Act's governance and complaint processes.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Juries Act to set a minimum juror fee of $100 per day, funded through money appropriated by the Legislature.

This Nova Scotia bill establishes the Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Fund to provide core funding to organizations that work to prevent intimate partner violence and to offer financial assistance to victims.

This Nova Scotia bill voids exclusivity clauses in commercial leases and restrictive covenants on property that block grocery stores, supermarkets, or fresh-produce convenience stores from operating at a location, aiming to increase grocery competition and lower food prices.

This Nova Scotia bill voids all existing and future restrictive covenants and exclusivity clauses that prevent land or commercial properties from being used as grocery stores, supermarkets, or convenience stores selling fresh produce, with the goal of increasing competition and lowering food prices.

This Nova Scotia bill establishes a Local Grocery Infrastructure Fund to financially support independent grocery stores (up to five locations, majority revenue from groceries) through grants, loans, and other assistance for expansion, renovation, equipment, and supply chain infrastructure. It also voids any existing or future restrictive covenants that prohibit or limit grocery store operations on commercial properties.

This Nova Scotia bill raises the provincial basic personal amount — the income threshold below which individuals pay no provincial income tax — from $11,744 to $15,000, with the new amount continuing to be indexed to inflation.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Employment Support and Income Assistance Act to prohibit reducing income assistance payments to people solely because they are unhoused — meaning someone living without owned, rented, or paid accommodation cannot have their benefits cut for that reason alone.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Education Act to strengthen inclusive education by requiring adequate support staffing in public schools and prohibiting the exclusion or reduced school day for students with support needs due to staff shortages. It also mandates annual ministerial reporting on support staff levels and unmet student needs.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act to require construction site employers to provide higher-quality toilet facilities, prioritizing fixed flush toilets over portable flush toilets, and only allowing chemical toilets (porta-potties) as a last resort when better options aren't reasonably practicable.

This bill requires the Nova Scotia government to study the province's trade infrastructure (ports, highways, railways, airports, etc.), report findings to the legislature within 12 months, and publish an improvement plan within 18 months of coming into force.

This Nova Scotia bill requires the Minister of Health and Wellness to review barriers to women's and gender-diverse individuals' healthcare, assess potential improvements, and publish annual reports on wait times and actions taken.

This Nova Scotia bill requires the provincial Minister of Health to establish cancer care centres at each regional hospital, offering both virtual and in-person services including screening, chemotherapy, and specialist access, while also ensuring residents near provincial borders can access cancer treatments like radiation in neighbouring provinces when closer.

This Nova Scotia bill amends the Housing Supply and Services Act to require that every unit in seniors-designated public housing buildings be equipped with a cooling system within three months of the law taking effect, at no cost to the senior residents.