New Program Supports Grade 12 Students with Disabilities

May 7, 2025

A new program launching this fall will support Grade 12 students with disabilities as they prepare to transition from school to community and enter early adulthood.

“Leaving school is an important time for young people and their families – a time of big change and big decisions,” said Scott Armstrong, Minister of Opportunities and Social Development. “This new program will help students with disabilities explore more opportunities, make more choices and connect to the resources and supports they need to be successful young adults, while addressing a long-standing gap in our disability support system.”

The new School Leavers Program is part of the government’s work to transform disability support in Nova Scotia under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Remedy.

The new program will be available to 100 students across the province this fall and will expand to 200 in 2026-27. All eligible students will be invited to participate by the end of the five-year remedy timeline in 2028.

A local area co-ordinator will be paired with each student to work with them, their family and their support team on a transition plan. Informed by the student’s interests, strengths and goals, the team will identify community-based disability supports and services of interest and explore opportunities for work, volunteering, further education, recreation, social activities and housing.

Eligible students and their families are being contacted directly by their regional centre for education or the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial. Students identified for the program have an intellectual developmental disability and/or one or more significant disability, are currently supported in school by a multi-disciplinary team, and have a formal plan with individualized learning outcomes.

Quotes:

“There is nothing more important than the success and well-being of Nova Scotia’s young people. The School Leavers Program is helping us ensure students – no matter their individual needs – get the appropriate wraparound supports to build bright, promising futures as independent adults.”
— Brendan Maguire, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development

Quick Facts:

• for the 2025-26 school year, 10 program spaces are designated for students who self-identify as Indigenous or Mi’kmaw and 10 for those who self-identify as African Nova Scotian or Black
• students who are eligible for the School Leavers Program were identified by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development; a randomized selection process was then used to select students who were invited to register for the program

Additional Resources:

School Leavers Program: https://www.ednet.ns.ca/school-leavers/

Disability support transformation progress and updates: https://www.dsp-transformation.ca/

Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission – Remedy in Disability Rights Coalition vs. Province of Nova Scotia: https://humanrights.novascotia.ca/remedy

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