Nova Scotia

For more information, please see the information sheet on Nova Scotia's child welfare system.

Overview

In Nova Scotia, the provincial Department of Community Services (DCS) provides child welfare services under the mandate of the Children and Family Services Act (CFSA) (1990). Services are provided by 21 local child welfare offices located in each county across the province. Mi’kmaw Family and Children’s Services (MFCS) provides child welfare and protection services to all 13 First Nations Reservations (Government of Nova Scotia, 2013). The Children and Family Services Regulations (2018) further describe specific policies and procedures for child welfare service delivery in Nova Scotia. The regulations also include all relevant government forms and applications for child welfare services within the province.

Statistics

Nova Scotia: Children and youth in out-of-home care in 2022 ¹
Children in out-of-home care	Child (0-18) population	Rate per 1000
1, 180	197, 359	5.98

Child welfare services fall under the jurisdiction of provincial and territorial authorities, making it difficult to compile statistics at the national level.

The most notable variations between provinces include, mandate variation by jurisdiction with respect to the age to which children are eligible for service, differences in the length of time a child can receive out-of-home care and the definition of out-of-home care.

References

¹ Pollock, N., Ouédraogo, A., Trocmé, N., Hovdestad, W., Miskie, A., Crompton, L., Campeau, A., Tanaka, M., Zhang, C., Laprise, C., Tonmyr, L. (2024). Original quantitative research – Rates of out-of-home care among children in Canada: an analysis of national administrative child welfare data. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada (44)4. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.44.4.02.

Publications

Title	Authors	Year
The Nova Scotia Child Poverty Report Card 2010	Frank, Leslie	2010
Report of the Domestic Violence Prevention Committee	Domestic Violence Prevention Committee (DVPC)	2009
Distinguishing Differences in Pathways to Resilience Among Canadian Youth	Ungar, Michael Brown, Marion Liebenberg, Linda Cheung, Maria Levine, Kathryn	2008
Health impacts of supportive housing for homeless youth: A pilot study	Kisely, Stephen Parker, Joanne, Campbell, Leslie Anne Karabanow, Jeff Hughes, Jean Gahagan, Jacqueline	2008
Minister's Advisory Committee on Children and Family Services Act and Adoption Information Act	Nova Scotia Advisory Committee on Children and Family Services Act	2008
Narrative inspired youth care work within a community agency	Hartman, Lesley Little, Alison Ungar, Michael	2008
Practical Applications of Narrative Ideas to Youth Care	Little, Alison Hartman, Lesley Ungar, Michael	2007
Improving Services for Children and Families: Report of the Child Welfare Steering Committee	Nova Scotia Community Services	2006
Nova Scotia’s child welfare system	Gough, Pamela	2006
Nurturing hidden resilience in at-risk youth across cultures	Ungar, Michael	2006

Legislation

Links