N.S. migrant workers will not immediately gain access to public health care

Nova Scotia Labour Minister Nolan Young is rejecting a recommendation to grant immediate access to public health care for migrant workers in the province.

A report released Wednesday by an advocacy group detailed harsh labour conditions faced by female migrant workers in the province and made a number of recommendations, including immediate access to public health care.

The report released by the Centre for Migrant Worker Rights Nova Scotia also recommends granting migrant workers paid sick days and conducting more unannounced inspections of job sites.

Young told reporters that his department was reviewing the report and takes allegations of abuse very seriously.

“I say in the strongest terms that it’s something we take incredibly seriously and we’ll do everything we can to ensure that this isn’t happening in the province,” Young said.

However, he said that no one who comes to the province gets immediate access to Medical Services Insurance and must go through a standard waiting period for provincial health care.

“There are no plans to change MSI eligibility to begin on a worker’s arrival. No newcomer to Nova Scotia — whether from elsewhere in Canada or internationally — receives provincial health coverage on Day 1; there is a standard waiting period for everyone,” reads an emailed statement from Young’s department.

“No one should ever experience mistreatment at work, and we empathize with how difficult and distressing this must be for those affected,” Alicia King, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, said in a statement.

King said that access to public health care for temporary foreign workers has long been a concern of federation members, and was part of their recommendations to the federal government during consultations on the Temporary Foreign Workers program.

She said harsh conditions flagged by the report are not representative of the community.

“Incidents like this do not reflect the broader agricultural community and we share in the disappointment of hearing it,” King said.

Young encouraged people to use an anonymous tip line to report any abuses at workplaces, including those who employ temporary foreign workers.

Opposition NDP leader Claudia Chender said that’s not good enough.

“The idea that it is the responsibility of folks being victimized to deal with that victimization is really, really problematic,” Chender told reporters Thursday.

“If this government knows that there are workers being brought into this province who are being abused, frankly, they need to go in there and fix it.”

Liberal MLA Derek Mombourquette said he hopes the issue makes it to the floor of the legislature for further debate and potential legislation.

“I think there are some important aspects when it comes to making sure that people are paid accordingly, that all of the right protections are in place.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.