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ANOTHER BUDGET MISSES THE MARK ON POVERTY – FEED NOVA SCOTIA’S RESPONSE TO DEFENDING NOVA SCOTIA 2026

DARTMOUTH, NOVA SCOTIA – FEBRUARY 25, 2026 – Earlier this week, the Government of Nova Scotia unveiled Defending Nova Scotia, a budget that does little to defend our most vulnerable communities.


“For a budget that claims to focus on future resiliency and the strength of communities, it seriously misses the mark. We’re facing a year ahead with a budget that will push more households into poverty,” says Ash Avery, Executive Director at Feed Nova Scotia. “Every day, we sink deeper into an affordability crisis with no clear roadmap to get out of it.”


The new budget, which includes reductions for supports such as the Heating Rebate Assistance Program, tax relief measures that will leave lower income residents in the lurch, and the elimination of funding for community programs across the province is severely disappointing. While Feed Nova Scotia hoped to see a budget that would provide meaningful relief for those living in poverty, we are instead looking at a budget that cuts community grants, essential services, and jobs during a time of crisis.


“Indexing Income Assistance to inflation does not matter when the rates remain $20,000 below the poverty line. An extra $10 a month isn’t going to lift anyone out of poverty,” says Avery. “Nearly 60% of food bank users in this province rely on some form of government income support, meaning that until these rates are adjusted based on the actual cost of living, we’re going to see more people accessing support, year over year.”


As an organization that believes in a future where everyone has the ability to access the food they want and need, we are calling on the Government of Nova Scotia to identify a target to reduce food insecurity immediately. The provincial government has not been held accountable for their spending choices – in the last year alone, the budget has gone from an $82 million surplus to a $1.24 billion deficit, with very little improvements to the quality of life for Nova Scotians. Feed Nova Scotia is also continuing the push for income support programs that will truly reduce food insecurity, not ones that keep marginalized members of society so far below the poverty line.


“Poverty is a political choice. Having our community members, our neighbours, living in deepening poverty is a political choice. And it’s a choice our government keeps making despite having the policy levers that could make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Nova Scotians.”

About Feed Nova Scotia:

Feed Nova Scotia is one of 10 provincial food associations in Canada, representing over 130 member organizations across the province. Since 1984, Feed Nova Scotia has been focused on providing high quality, nutritious food to the member organizations, while focusing on creating change at the systemic level. This includes collaboration through grants and community partnerships that focus on food distribution efficiency, community farming education, and advocacy projects.

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For more information, please contact:
Kenya Plut

Communications Coordinator

communications@feednovascotia.ca

Feed Nova Scotia and the network of members are located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq Peoples, and we acknowledge them as past, present, and future caretakers of this land. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq, Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet), and Passamaquoddy Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. We are all Treaty people.

We acknowledge that African Nova Scotians have existed and persisted on the traditional land of the Mi’kmaq for more than 400 hundred years and their significant presence has contributed to the existence of Nova Scotia.

We are grateful to live and work in Mi’kma’ki.