About NSPromise.ca

NS Promise is an independent civic petition created by members of the Nova Scotia community. We are not a political organization. We are not affiliated with any party, any level of government, or any immigration advocacy group. This petition speaks for workers who came to Nova Scotia when the province needed them, arriving with the hope of building their lives and calling Nova Scotia their home, as encouraged and promoted by the Government of Nova Scotia. After working hard, contributing to the province, and establishing their lives here, they are now being told to leave.. Two different pathways. One shared situation: they followed the process, they stayed, and now their work permits are expiring while their applications wait. We are neighbours, coworkers, employers, and community members who believe that a government which makes a promise has a duty to keep it.

The people this petition represents made their choice years ago. They chose Nova Scotia. They built their lives here. This petition speaks for them and only them.

They are already here.

They came to Nova Scotia legally, years ago. They followed every rule, filed every form, waited in every queue. They built careers in this province. They paid taxes here. They raised children here. Some bought homes here. They became part of this community in every way that matters.

They drive Halifax Transit buses. They staff overnight security shifts at hospitals and universities. They work in construction, food service, agriculture, elder care, and logistics etc. These are not abstract categories. These are the people who kept Nova Scotia running during years when no one else was willing or available to fill those roles.

Many have been here two, three, four years. They have nothing left in another country. Nova Scotia is home. And now, through a combination of federal quota cuts and a provincial policy change that resets application files annually, they are being told their time is up.

We do not accept that.

There is a principle in Canadian law called promissory estoppel. In plain terms it means this: when a government or institution creates a process, invites people to rely on it, and those people order their lives around it in good faith, the government cannot simply change the rules and walk away from the consequences. It is a principle recognized in contract law and equity across Canadian courts, and it reflects something most people understand instinctively: you do not invite someone to build their life on a foundation and then remove the foundation.

These workers applied to the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program and Atlantic Immigration Program, which is a federally designated employer-driven pathway to permanent residence specifically created to help Atlantic provinces fill labour gaps. Both programs told workers there was a pathway. Both programs invited people to come, to stay, to build a life here.

That is not a neutral administrative change. It is a breach of reasonable reliance.

There is also a fairness principle that sits at the heart of good governance. Nova Scotia's Provincial Nominee Program, under its original policy, invited workers to come to this province and build a life here. People responded. Some left other provinces. Some left other countries. They chose Nova Scotia specifically because this province had a process and they trusted it.

The policy has since changed. That is within the government's right. New policies can apply to new applicants going forward. But it is fundamentally unjust to apply a new and more restrictive policy retroactively to people who made life-altering decisions based on the original one. These workers did not move to Nova Scotia under false pretenses. They moved here because the province told them there was a path. Changing the rules on people already mid-journey is not a policy update. It is pulling the ground out from under people who trusted you.

The principle is simple: new rules for new people. Not new rules applied backwards to people who already acted in good faith.

These people did nothing wrong. They deserve to be treated accordingly.

This is not only a moral question. It is an economic one.

Nova Scotia faces documented labour shortages across critical sectors. Transit, security, healthcare support, construction, and agriculture are among the industries most affected. These are not luxury sectors. They are the infrastructure of daily life in this province.

When a transit operator loses a significant portion of its workforce overnight because permits expire, buses stop running on schedule. When a security firm loses a third of its staff, facilities go unstaffed. When construction companies lose skilled tradespeople mid-project, timelines collapse and costs rise for everyone. These are not hypothetical scenarios. They are already happening.

The economic cost of replacing experienced workers is significant even when replacements exist, which in Nova Scotia they often do not. Recruitment, retraining, and onboarding costs average thousands of dollars per worker. And for many of these roles, domestic replacements are simply not available.

Nova Scotia is not the first province to face this situation. Manitoba faced it too, and they chose to act.

In September 2024, the Manitoba government announced a temporary public policy offering two-year work permit extensions to approximately 6,700 temporary foreign workers whose permits were expiring while their PNP applications were being processed. Manitoba's Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino said at the time: "At a time when skilled labour is in high demand, our government is making sure that people who are already in the province, who have contributed economically and who have expressed a desire to call Manitoba home, are given that opportunity."

In April 2025, Manitoba extended the policy again. Workers whose permits expired in 2024 or 2025 became eligible to apply for a two-year Manitoba-specific work permit extension through a simple, fast process that cost employers $230 in filing fees, compared to the $1,000 cost and 70-plus business day timeline of a standard Labour Market Impact Assessment.

The federal government supported Manitoba's request. It worked. Workers stayed. Businesses kept their staff. Communities remained intact.

Nova Scotia can do the same. The model exists. The precedent exists. The only thing missing is the decision.

Our ask is specific, limited, and achievable.

We are asking the Nova Scotia government to introduce a temporary public policy offering work permit extensions of up to two years for temporary foreign workers who are currently active in the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program process and Atlantic Immigration Program and whose permits are expiring or have recently expired.

Specifically, we are asking for:

First, a retroactive work permit extension of up to two years for temporary foreign workers whose permits have expired or are expiring and who have an active application or recently reset file under the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program or the Atlantic Immigration Program. Both programs brought these workers here. Both programs owe them the same protection while their applications are being processed. New Brunswick has already moved in this direction for AIP endorsees awaiting permanent residence decisions. Nova Scotia should do the same for workers in both streams.

Second, that this policy apply only to workers who have been residing in Nova Scotia for a minimum of 12 continuous months. This ensures the policy protects people already genuinely rooted here, not those who might relocate from another province specifically to access this measure. Nova Scotia's system should not become a pressure valve for interprovincial movement. It should protect the people already here who came here for the right reasons and stayed.

That is the full extent of our ask.

This is not a request to bring anyone new to Nova Scotia. Every person this petition speaks for is already here, already working, already part of this community.

We are asking for a bridge. Two years. Enough time for the applications already in the system to be properly processed. Enough time for people who have already given years of their lives to this province to find out whether they get to stay.

These workers are not asking for charity. They are asking for what they were promised.