Judge rules homeless man’s tent met accommodation requirements for enhanced income assistance

Tents housing the homeless in Victoria Park, Halifax, in October 2022. Photo by Tim Krochak

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A tent should legally be considered a form of accommodation, according to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, in a decision that could set a precedent for income assistance granted to unhoused individuals in the province.

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The appellant, Jacqueline Lowe, was acting as representative of the estate of Bradley Lowe, a homeless man who died of an overdose in downtown Halifax in Dec. 2023.

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Two months before he died, Lowe, who had been initially approved to receive $380 per month in income assistance, applied for the enhanced rate of $974 per month. However, the request was denied because the applicant was deemed “unhoused” and therefore did not meet the eligibility requirements.

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Days after Lowe’s death, Nova Scotia’s Assistance Appeal Board dismissed an appeal and upheld the decision denying enhanced rate assistance. The case then went to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and, in May 2025, Justice John A. Keith dismissed the judicial review, finding the Board’s decision unreasonable but ultimately concluding that Lowe did not meet eligibility requirements for the enhanced rate.

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On Wednesday, however, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruled not only that the Board’s original decision was unreasonable, but that Lowe met the eligibility requirements for enhanced rate assistance according to the province’s Employment Support and Income Assistance Act.

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Bradley Lowe died Dec. 15 after overdosing in a tent at Parade Square, Halifax. Photo by Facebook

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“The court found that the hearing judge erred in interpreting the Regulations (of the Act), as the term ‘accommodation’ should include the applicant’s tent,” Chief Justice Michael J. Wood wrote in the decision.

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He said that the Act “aims to provide assistance to those in need, including shelter,” and that Lowe “was entitled to Enhanced Rate assistance based on a proper interpretation of the Act and Regulations.”

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Section 50 of Nova Scotia’s Employment Support and Income Assistance Act states: “A recipient who is not boarding or renting or who does not own their accommodation must be allowed an amount of assistance at the essentials standard household rate.”

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A person will receive the enhanced rate if they either have a disability; have a chronic mental, cognitive or physical condition that limits participation in employment services; are fleeing an abusive situation; are 55 years old or older; are a young person receiving assistance in accordance with subsection 8(3) and otherwise meet the requirements of the Act.

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At the time of Lowe’s application for income assistance, he was unemployed and living in a tent which he owned and had erected in Victoria Park, a downtown public park. In September 2023, he was in receipt of the essentials rate of $380 per month, and a special needs allowance of $92 towards the cost of cell phone service and medically prescribed special dietary needs.