Nova Scotia Disability Rights Discrimination

Nova Scotia Disability Rights Discrimination Class Action

Attroney

Proposed Settlement

A proposed settlement has been reached in this action. 

The Plaintiff and the Province of Nova Scotia (the “Parties“) have reached a proposed settlement worth up to $34 million.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement, the honorarium to the representative plaintiff, and Class Counsel’s fees at a hearing on November 7, 2025 at 9:30 AM at the Nova Scotia Supreme Court Satellite Courthouse, 7 Mellor Avenue, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

If the Settlement is approved by the Court, eligible Class Members will receive compensation depending on the duration of their placement on the waitlist for disability services, and placement in any Institution, Nursing Home, or Hospital. You can read more about the Settlement at www.NSWaitlistSettlement.ca.

If you are a Class Member, these are your options:

  1. Do nothing – If you agree with the proposed Settlement, you do not have to do anything now. If the Court approves the Settlement, further information will be provided about how to make a claim for compensation.
  2. Voicing your opinion on the Settlement — If you object to the proposed Settlement and DO NOT want the Settlement to be approved by the Court, you may complete an Objection Form and submit it to the Notice Administrator not later than October 27, 2025 using the information below. You may also attend the Settlement Approval Hearing on November 7, 2025. However, you do not have to attend the Settlement Approval Hearing. If you submit an Objection Form, it will be provided to the judge at the Settlement Approval Hearing. 
  3. Opting out of the class action — If you would like to exclude yourself from the class action, and get no money or the benefit of any admissions from the lawsuit, but keep your right to sue the Province independently, you may opt out of the class action. If you want to opt out, you must submit an Opt Out Form by October 27, 2025 using the information below. 

For more information about your options and about the proposed Settlement, visit the class action website at www.NSWaitlistSettlement.ca.

You may also contact the Notice Administrator at 1-844-677-1771 or info@NSWaitlistSettlement.ca, or by mail to:

Notice Administrator
c/o Deloitte LLP

PO BOX 998 STN CENTRAL
Halifax, NS  B3J 2X1

You may also contact Class Counsel at the contact information below. There is no cost for speaking with Class Counsel about the class action or the proposed Settlement. 

Koskie Minsky LLP
•    Email: NovaScotiaDisabilityServicesClassAction@kmlaw.ca
•    Toll-Free Telephone: 1-877-309-9111
•    Mail: 20 Queen St West, Toronto, ON M5H 3R4
•    Website: kmlaw.ca/cases/nova-scotia-disability-services-class-action/

McKiggan Hebert Lawyers
•    Email: info@mckigganhebert.com
•    Telephone: 902-706-2298
•    Mail: 1959 Upper Water St Suite 502, Halifax, NS B3J 3N2
•    Website: apmlawyers.com/nova-scotia-disability-rights-discrimination-class-action/

Background

The lawsuit alleges that the Province of Nova Scotia’s management of its system of disability assistance is negligent and violates sections 7 and 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court certified this action as a class proceeding on June 21, 2024. The Province has now opted to resolve the class action without a trial, through a settlement with the Plaintiff.

The classes are defined as follows:

Waitlist Class Members

All persons, who were alive as of May 4, 2022, who were on the waitlist for services (other than a residential placement for seniors) under the Social Assistance Act, S.N.S. 1989, c. 432, for any period of time after April 1, 1998, exclusive of any period for which an individual was a member of 

(a) the Institution Class; 

(b) the Nursing Home Class; or 

(c) the Hospital Class.

Institution Class Members

All persons, who were alive as of May 4, 2022, who for any period of time after April 1, 1998 resided at a Regional Rehabilitation Centre, Adult Residential Centre, or Residential Care Facility, while eligible for assistance under the Social Assistance Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 432.

Nursing Home Class Members

All persons, who were alive as of May 4, 2022, who:

(a) For any period of time after April 1, 1998, resided in a nursing home; 

(b) Were eligible for assistance under the Social Assistance Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 432 while residing in the nursing home; and

(c) Had been assessed by an agent or employee of the Department of Community Services as having support needs which fell within the mandate of the Department of Community Services pursuant to the Disability Support Program Policy (or Services for Persons with Disabilities Policy) applicable at the time of their residence in the nursing home. 

Hospital Class Members

All persons, who were alive as of May 4, 2022, who for any period of time after April 1, 1998 resided in the Nova Scotia Hospital or another hospital operated by the Nova Scotia Hospital Authority or any of its predecessors, without a medical reason for the hospitalization, while eligible for assistance under the Social Assistance Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 432.

Latest Developments

  • September 12, 2025
    A proposed Settlement was executed between the parties. Further information about the proposed Settlement and the benefits it provides can be found in the Long Form Notice and the class action website here: www.NSWaitlistSettlement.ca.

Documents

  1. Objection Form
  2. Opt Out Form
  3. 2-pager Notice of Settlement Approval Hearing 
  4. Short Form Notice of Settlement Approval Hearing (Simplified Language)
  5. Long Form Notice of Settlement Approval Hearing (Simplified Language)
  6. Proposed Settlement Agreement and Schedules

Province has an obligation to persons in need

Since at least 1998, the Province of Nova Scotia has had a statutory obligation to provide social assistance to persons in need who reside in the province. Eligible residents who are not disabled receive the social assistance to which they are entitled as of right effective from the date of their application for benefits and the program through which assistance is administered has no funding limit or cap.

Province discriminates against persons with disabilities

By contrast, applications by eligible residents who have a mental or physical disability or both are dealt with under a separate program (the “Disability Support Program” or “DSP”). The Disability Support Program is administered by the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services (“DCS”). DCS has established policies governing the Disability Support Program. Unlike funding for the system of social assistance for persons who are not disabled, funding for the Disability Support Program is subject to an arbitrary cap.

Social assistance provided through the Disability Support Program is treated as discretionary and most eligible residents do not receive the assistance they are entitled to in a timely manner or at all. This has led to eligible applicants being placed on a waitlist for assistance under the DSP (the “Waitlist”). Some applicants have remained on the Waitlist for years.

Persons denied the right to live independently

While on the waitlist, eligible applicants have no choice but to remain in their current living arrangements which may mean living with relatives, living on their own with independent living supports if available, living in a small option home in a different community far away from family and friends, living in large segregated institutional facilities, or being placed in hospitals, including on psychiatric wards, in order to receive assistance to meet their basic and special needs.

In short, thousands of eligible applicants with a mental or physical disability or both have been denied the statutory benefits to which they are entitled, and which are necessary to allow them to meet their basic need for shelter, food and clothing as well as their special need for services and supports to permit them to live in their community.

As a result, thousands of adults with mental or physical disabilities or both have been forced to either live in small option homes far away from family and friends, in large institutions segregated from society at large, or in hospitals and psychiatric facilities, often on locked wards with those who are mentally ill even though they themselves have no mental illness requiring hospitalization. In many cases, these arrangements continue for years, often decades.

Forced to rely upon family members for support

Further, many hundreds more adults are required to rely upon family members, many in homes that do not meet their physical, social or emotional needs, and rely on charity for the necessary services and supports they need or go without such services and supports altogether.

Denying people with a mental or physical disability or both the assistance to which they are entitled in this arbitrary way is cruel and inhumane. It is discriminatory. It strips them of their dignity and interferes with their liberty and the security of their person. It causes psychological, emotional, and at times physical, pain and suffering. It contravenes domestic human rights law, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”), and is inconsistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to which Canada is a signatory. The manner in which the Province has administered the Disability Support Program is negligent and in breach of its fiduciary duties to the class members.

Province has knowingly discriminated against persons with disabilities

The Province has long been aware of the issues associated with the Disability Support Program but has failed to act in any meaningful, reasonable, or prudent manner.

On October 6, 2021 the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal issued a landmark decision confirming that the Province of Nova Scotia systemically discriminated against persons with mental and physical disabilities who were involuntarily confined in the psychiatric unit of the Nova Scotia hospital.

Unfortunately, the Province has announced that it is seeking a hearing before the Nova Scotia Human Rights tribunal to justify it’s discrimination against persons with disabilities.

As a result, the Plaintiffs have determined they have no choice but to file this proposed class action.

The proposed representative Plaintiff is ISAI ESTEY, by his litigation guardian, STEVEN ESTEY.

For further information or if you believe you are a class member, please contact us at:
Toll Free: 902-706-2298 or email at info@mckigganhebert.com

McKiggan Hebert Lawyers and Koskie Minsky LLP have provided the Province of Nova Scotia with notice of a proposed class action against the Province on behalf of persons who are or have been on the waitlist for the Disability Support Program for any period of time since April 1, 1998.

Proposed Settlement in Disability Rights Class Action

Mckiggan Hebert is pleased to announce we have reached a proposed settlement in our Disability Rights class action. The settlement is subject to approval of the court. Details of the proposed settlement can be found in the documents above.