Nova Scotia Cuts New Glasgow Shelter Funding Within 90 Days

Nova Scotia will stop funding the Northstar Shelter in New Glasgow after a 90-day transition period, a decision that has sharpened a long-running debate over how the community supports people experiencing homelessness.

The province says it is moving toward a new supportive-housing model. Northstar’s leadership, meanwhile, fears the shelter’s closure could leave people without adequate help before replacement services are in place.

A Shift in Shelter Strategy

The province has issued a call for expressions of interest from service providers in Pictou, Lunenburg and Kings counties as it develops a new model of supportive housing.

The province’s move comes amid broader efforts across Atlantic Canada to expand housing supports, including New Brunswick’s $7.4-million package for emergency supportive housing grants aimed at helping people without stable shelter. That regional backdrop helps frame Nova Scotia’s shift toward a new mix of shelter, transitional housing and supportive housing options.

Social Development Minister Susan Corkum-Greek said the change is intended to help people move toward stable housing through enhanced supports. The province’s stated direction is a different mix of shelter, transitional housing and supportive housing options.

“Our current system of supports wasn’t designed to meet today’s reality, which has more complex cases of people experiencing homelessness,” Corkum-Greek said in a provincial release. “We need innovative and sustainable community-led solutions that respond to local needs and help people move toward stable housing.”

A transition team of outreach workers and professionals will work with Northstar guests to identify alternate housing and supports during the 90-day period.

Corkum-Greek has described supportive housing as a model that pairs housing with services for people facing challenges including addictions and mental health concerns. She said the goal is not simply to provide a shelter bed, but to help people find greater stability.

Shelter Leaders Fear a Gap

Northstar officials say the funding cut could put vulnerable people at risk, warning that inadequate support could potentially lead to deaths.

Dwayne Wright, the shelter board chair, told CBC he is skeptical the province can fill the gap quickly. “The government may very well have a plan that they can put in place and help avoid the deaths that are a potential from this, but we don’t know about that,” he said.

“It’s very clear that, to them, Northstar is not part of that plan,” Wright told CBC.

Executive director Lisa Deyoung said Northstar’s work extends beyond its shelter beds, describing support for people without permanent housing and for residents struggling with basic costs. “Everyone is struggling more and more these days,” she said. “We’ve been very successful in being able to ensure people are able to stay in their homes. But that won’t be there anymore for these folks.”

Pressure From the Community

Northstar is a 20-bed program that has operated in New Glasgow since 2018, first opening as Viola’s Place and expanding in 2022.

It has also faced sustained pressure from the community and town officials to close. The Town of New Glasgow called for the shelter’s closure, citing open drug use and other safety concerns downtown.

Mayor Nancy Dicks welcomed the province’s announcement, saying she hoped it would lead to a better arrangement both for Northstar’s clients and for the wider community.

The provincial decision lands at the centre of those competing concerns: the town’s calls for a different approach to safety and downtown conditions, and the shelter’s warning that people relying on its services need a clear, workable alternative.

A Disputed Account of Funding Cut

Deyoung has also raised a separate allegation about the events preceding the decision. According to SaltWire, she said the province asked Northstar to remove a man who had been released from corrections after a crime involving a prominent Pictou County family.

Deyoung said Northstar refused to put the man out and requested that the direction be provided in writing. She told SaltWire that the shelter’s funding was cut the following day.

“We refused to kick him out, and the next day our funding was cut,” Deyoung said, according to SaltWire.

For now, Northstar remains in the transition period while the province seeks proposals for its new supportive-housing approach. The central question for New Glasgow is whether the promised mix of services can be established in time for the people who currently depend on the shelter.

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