Nova Scotia Opens Heating Rebate Applications Amid Tighter Eligibility and Rising Fuel Costs
Nova Scotia's Heating Assistance Rebate Program (HARP) opened for the 2025-26 season on October 1, offering up to $400 to eligible households. Lowered income thresholds introduced last year have excluded thousands of residents, sparking concern among advocacy groups and opposition parties as heating oil prices surge.
Nova Scotia’s Heating Assistance Rebate Program (HARP) opened for applications on Thursday, October 1, offering eligible households up to $400 for the 2025-26 heating season.
To qualify this year, individuals living alone without dependents must have a 2025 net income of $30,000 or less. Households with children, dependents, or other adults require a combined net income of $45,000 or less. Recipients of Income Assistance from the Department of Opportunities and Social Development, or those receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) or Allowance from Service Canada, are also eligible.
The current criteria reflect significant reductions made last year, when the government lowered the family net income threshold from $70,000 to $45,000 and the individual threshold from $55,000 to $30,000. NDP critic Susan Leblanc stated that 64,000 Nova Scotians were denied HARP last year due to these rule changes, and that those who still qualified received $200 less than before. Miriam Williams, a Halifax resident and leader with ACORN, previously qualified for the rebate but no longer does under the updated criteria.
In the previous fiscal year, 118,287 applicants received the rebate at a cost of $71 million, according to Global News. CTV Atlantic reported that 54,000 people accessed the program last year. For the 2025-26 season, the province expects to assist up to 72,000 households at an anticipated cost of $32 million, while CTV Atlantic noted a budget of $30 million targeting 70,000 recipients. Minister of Service Nova Scotia Jill Balser stated the current budget is just over $33 million, citing a $1.4 billion provincial deficit as a constraint.
Concerns over heating affordability are intensifying as fuel prices climb. According to the NDP, the cost of heating oil has risen by 47 per cent since last year. Shelley Rose, director of the Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank, reported a 25 per cent annual increase in demand for their emergency heating cost support program.
Juli Bishwokarma, energy coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre, noted that Nova Scotia has one of the highest energy poverty rates in the country. She added that renters struggle most because they pay for heat but lack control over heating systems.