More Funding for Food at Emergency Shelters

Emergency shelters across Nova Scotia are now providing two meals a day, further strengthening the Province’s efforts to support Nova Scotians experiencing homelessness.

“Access to nutritious meals isn’t a luxury – it’s a basic need that no one should have to worry about,” said Barbara Adams, Minister of Opportunities and Social Development. “This investment means people staying in emergency shelters can count on two nutritious meals a day, so they can focus on rebuilding their lives.”

The additional $1-million annual investment standardizes meal provision in emergency shelters across the province and allows service providers to offer about 142,850 more meals each year.

In most cases, the meals will be provided on-site through shelter or drop-in programs. They will follow basic nutritional guidelines and may vary by location and provider to give shelters the ability to design meal programs that best reflect the needs, preferences and capacities of the communities they serve.

Quotes:

“Overall, the addition of a second daily meal shifts the shelter environment from crisis response toward stabilization, creating better conditions for long-term outcomes, such as housing placement and recovery”
— Cherry Laxton, Chief Operating Officer, Souls Harbour

Quick Facts:

• there are 19 emergency shelters across the province, where 15 service providers manage a total of 585 beds
• in 2025-26, the Province provided $1 million to retroactively compensate providers who supplied two meals per day to shelter guests while only being funded for one meal per day
• the investment provides $14 per shelter client, per day, and is in line with Canada’s Food Price Report

Additional Resources:

Supports for people experiencing homelessness: https://novascotia.ca/supports-for-people-experiencing-homelessness/

Canada’s Food Price Report 2025: https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/EN%20-%20Food%20Price%20Report%202025.pdf