A top Nova Scotia bureaucrat says income-assistance recipients will be able to keep more of what they earn if they work, starting in 2019-20. Lynn Hartwell, the deputy minister of community services, told the legislature's public accounts committee Wednesday that under planned changes, recipients who work would be allowed to keep $250 rather than just $150. She said the amount they can keep beyond that threshold would also increase from 30 per cent to 75 per cent for anything earned between $250 and $500. Community and anti-poverty groups called for immediate changes to income assistance in December, including an increase to basic rates. She said a planned five per cent increase in basic income support rates is planned for 2019-20.

Source: CBC News January 31, 2018 19:03 UTC