Five years after Nova Scotia promised to hire a child and youth advocate, the province says it will open the office, which could have the power to investigate shortcomings in its child protection system. However, it’s still unclear what the mandate, powers and budget of the office will be.
Last week, Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative government pledged $300,000 in its budget for the long-promised role, expected to be created next year.
Nova Scotia is currently the only province besides Ontario without an office of a child and youth advocate.
While mandates vary from province to province, generally the role includes advocating on behalf of children receiving government services, investigating and reporting on the serious injury or death of a child, providing policy and systemic advocacy and making recommendations related to the rights and well-being of youth.
If Nova Scotia follows other Canadian models, the new position could play an important role in understanding how the province handles cases such as Jack and Lilly Sullivan. The two siblings went missing in May, 2025, after a child-protection social worker visited their home in the rural hamlet of Lansdowne. Lilly, 6, and Jack, who was 4 at the time, have been the subject of an RCMP major-crime investigation since last year.
The Decibel: The disappearance of Jack and Lilly Sullivan
In other provinces, these advocates have the investigative authority to subpoena government records and internal memos, tools that can help identify gaps in the system, said Alec Stratford, executive director of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers.
“It is that political discourse that often leads to policy change, which is why this office is so crucial,” said Mr. Stratford, who has been advocating for such a watchdog for a decade.
He said the province’s proposed law to broaden its publication ban on identifying children in the child protection system to apply even after they have died, and giving the minister the sole power to lift it, makes the office more important than ever. A child and youth advocate would be able to speak on behalf of children affected by this law and about the consequences of a lack of accountability, he added.
Opportunities and Social Development Minister Barbara Adams said she couldn’t answer questions about the office’s mandate, powers or budget – or whether the position would operate independently from government, like in other provinces.
“What I will say is that right now, we are focused on establishing the regulations, which will outline all the parameters of the office,” she said. “What it will end up looking like will all be determined through the establishment of the regulations which are underway.”
Nova Scotia seeks to shield identities of children in protection system even after they die
Bernard Richard, a former child and youth advocate in New Brunswick and British Columbia, said the fact that Nova Scotia is establishing the office through regulation raises a “red flag” about whether the intention is for the position to be truly independent – a cornerstone of such an office.
“That, to me, is critical that the advocate should not report to a minister or deputy minister,” said Mr. Richard. He was New Brunswick’s first child and youth advocate from 2006 to 2011, and held the same role in B.C. from 2016 to 2018.
“Government departments, being what they are, will be inclined to protect the department, protect the minister, protect the premier, protect the government. It’s clear that without independence, I think this position will be an advocate’s position in name only,” he said.
More funding will likely be required to fully establish the office. The province’s college of social workers has advocated for funding in line with Manitoba, which has a budget of $6.5-million with 48 staff. New Brunswick has a budget of $1.5-million with about 15 staff. PEI, the country’s smallest province, has a budget of $1.2-million with eight staff.
Premier Tim Houston promised to establish the office in a ministerial mandate letter in 2021.
Legislation was introduced in 2024 by former community services minister Brendan Maguire, after he crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservatives.
In an interview, Ms. Adams, the Social Development Minister, said there have been other priorities in her department that have delayed the drafting of regulations for a child and youth advocate.
Mr. Stratford of the social workers’ college said the fact that the minister has yet to finalize the mandate delays meaningful change that children, youth and their families urgently require.
Mr. Stratford said starting up the office could be a simple function of taking PEI’s child and youth advocate legislation, which he said is the most modern in Canada, and adding some language specifically around African Nova Scotian communities and their distinct place in the province.
“Our position has always been there is zero need to recreate the wheel,” he said.
“We didn’t need to do endless rounds of consultations. The formula was there, and has been for a long time in Canada,” he said. “The delay honestly is more about … what this office does – it’s an oversight body, an accountability body.”