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Nova Scotia residents are heading into another cold season with growing anxiety over heating costs, after the provincial government cut back its main heating assistance program. The Heating Assistance Rebate Program, known as HARP, opened for applications this week — but thousands of households that previously qualified no longer meet the tightened eligibility rules.
Halifax resident Miriam Williams is among those who lost access to the program. Williams, who also leads the tenant advocacy group ACORN, said the situation is unacceptable. “This is not a handout by any means,” she said. “This is just something that helps people get by.”
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Tighter Rules Cut Thousands from the Program
Last year, the Houston government lowered the income thresholds required to qualify for HARP. Previously, a single person with no dependents could qualify with a net income of up to $55,000. That threshold now sits at $30,000. For households with children, dependents or other adults, the combined income limit dropped from $70,000 to $45,000.
Eligible households can receive up to $400 this season. To qualify, applicants must meet at least one of the following conditions: live alone with no dependents and earn $30,000 or less; live with children, dependents or other adults with a combined household income of $45,000 or less; receive Income Assistance from the Department of Opportunities and Social Development; or receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement or the Allowance from Service Canada.
In previous years, the province had expanded both the eligibility criteria and the rebate value. However, the cuts reversed that trend sharply. According to a government news release, 118,287 applicants received the rebate in the previous fiscal year at a total cost of $71 million. This year, the government expects to help as many as 72,000 households at a cost of $32 million.
Opposition Calls for Reversal of HARP Changes
NDP critic for Service Nova Scotia, Susan Leblanc, called on the Houston government to reverse the changes. “Last year, 64,000 Nova Scotians struggling to afford their heating costs were denied HARP because the Houston government changed the rules to make them ineligible,” she said.
Leblanc also noted that those who still qualified received $200 less than before. Furthermore, she pointed out that the department left a third of its HARP budget unspent. “Money that could have made a real difference to the thousands of Nova Scotians who depend on this help,” she said.
The NDP also highlighted that the cost of heating oil has risen by 47 per cent since last year, adding further pressure on households already struggling to cover basic costs.
Community Organizations See Rising Demand
On the ground, the impact is already visible. Shelley Rose, director of the Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank, says demand for her organization’s emergency heating assistance program has increased by 25 per cent annually. “What we hear all the time is just everything is so expensive,” Rose said. “We are seeing an uptick in the amount of people that we are trying to help because people who would have had that rebate before don’t have it and need that extra help.”
Experts also warn that Nova Scotia already has one of the highest energy poverty rates in the country. Juli Bishwokarma, energy coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre, said renters face particular hardship. “Renters are struggling the most because they are paying for the heat and electricity, but they can’t choose how to upgrade or have little or no control over their heating system,” she said.
Williams shares those concerns. She said most people in her neighbourhood are living on the financial edge. “Most people that I know who live even just in this neighbourhood are about one bad paycheque away from losing everything,” she said. “That’s a scary and stressful way to live.”
Government Cites Deficit Pressures
Minister of Service Nova Scotia Jill Balser acknowledged the financial pressures facing residents. She said the $400 rebate would help with home heating costs alongside other government measures. “Each year we look to deliver a program that can help as many people as we can with the resources we have,” Balser said. “Our budget this year is just over $33 million at a time when the province is managing a $1.4 billion deficit.”
Balser added that the government intends to do more as fiscal conditions improve. However, Williams believes the current thresholds still exclude too many families in genuine need. “Every penny counts in this economy,” she said. “A household with two income earners will blow past that cap in a matter of weeks. They really require this benefit to make it through the winter.”
