A third of Nova Scotia’s heating assistance budget went unused this winter

Opposition politicians say the Nova Scotia government needs to make changes to the heating assistance rebate program after turning down more than 18,000 applicants this winter, while also leaving $11 million on the table.

Government officials told a legislative committee Wednesday it received more than 72,000 applications between October 2025 and March 2026. They approved around 54,000 households for the program, which is often referred to by its acronym, HARP. At $400 per household, the total spend added up to about $22 million out of a $33-million budget.

“I think it’s deeply concerning,” said NDP MLA Lisa Lachance, speaking to reporters after the committee meeting.

“This was a major project that helped Nova Scotians afford their power bills, and power bills are only increasing,” they said.

“To hear that almost 20,000 people didn’t qualify who applied is heartbreaking,” said Liberal MLA Derek Mombourquette.

The deputy minister of Service Nova Scotia, which administers the rebate program, said in spite of this winter’s underutilization, the budget for next winter will not drop.

“So we’re now in that research and analyzing mode to say: What could we have done better to reach more Nova Scotians to maximize the use of that budget?” Joanne Munro told reporters.

Last winter the province gave out $71 million in heating rebates to 118,000 households. But the eligibility criteria and the rebate’s value were both significantly different; the program has seen several fluctuations in recent history.

For many years, the rebate was $200, but the Progressive Conservative government boosted it to $1,000 for the winter of 2022-23 as the cost of living rose. The income threshold that year was $85,000 per household.

Since then, the household payment and the income criteria have dropped twice. The government justified the changes by pointing to other new affordability measures, including tax breaks.

This winter, income eligibility was capped at $30,000 for single people and $45,000 for families.

Munro said she thinks confusion about eligibility contributed to the program’s underuse. She said it’s commonly misunderstood that the caps are for gross income — in fact, they are for net income, meaning the amount you take home after tax. She said the issue was likely more pronounced this year because of last year’s cut to the income threshold.

Munro said half the denied applications this year were turned away because they were incomplete. First-time applicants are required to submit a heating bill, and Munro said her department followed up with those who didn’t, but in 9,000 cases it did not receive the missing information.

In the other half of cases, applicants’ incomes were too high, Munro said.

Opposition MLAs said the government needs to do a better job of connecting with people who are eligible to ensure no one misses out. They also called for the program to expand — in terms of both eligibility and the amount that’s paid.

“HARP needs to be restored, HARP needs to be strengthened,” said Lachance.

“We shouldn’t have changed the criteria,” said Mombourquette. “We want to support as many Nova Scotians as we can.”

A spokesperson for the department said eligibility thresholds and payment amounts are reviewed and set annually.

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