Workers quit emergency care for Nova Scotia’s most vulnerable after CRA audit

A private company that’s received more than $184 million in public funds over the past eight years to care for some of Nova Scotia’s most vulnerable children and disabled adults is losing workers so quickly, remaining workers say it’s a major safety issue for everyone. 

Arden Professional Client Care announced in an all-staff email on March 16 the details of a Canada Revenue Agency audit — that the company wasn’t issuing tax documents or reporting payments made to workers to CRA. 

Multiple sources told CBC News that many workers have since quit.

Arden workers are independent contractors who care for a disabled adult, or a child who’s in government care. The province uses companies like Arden as a last resort, when it’s not possible to place a person in a group home. The company provides 24/7 care for clients in homes across Nova Scotia.

“They’re extremely vulnerable people. It’s very much the end of the road, as far as I understand it, with regards to care,” said one source who works for Arden. 

“These people have extreme schizophrenia, extreme autism — non-verbal autism — which is extremely challenging to try and communicate and to understand the client as well.”

CBC has agreed not to name contractors because they’re still working for the company and fear retaliation.

Company disagreed with CRA’s position

Until the recent announcement, there was a widespread belief among independent contractors they were exempt from paying tax on income earned at Arden, as referenced in a petition from workers with hundreds of signatures. 

In internal emails Arden management told contractors it disagreed with the CRA’s position. 

On March 16, Arden executive director Matt Suter cited paragraph 81(1)(h.1) of the Income Tax Act, which discusses social assistance payments for “informal care programs” in an email to all contractors. 

Suter said the CRA “clarified through recent interpretation and related case law that services structured like ours do not qualify under this exemption, and payments must therefore be reported.” 

The company told CBC in a statement it is complying with the agency’s directions. It said it’s working with the province to ensure there are “no changes to client care and safety,” and thanked its contractors for their “ongoing dedication.” 

Some contractors are worried they will be struck with huge back tax bills. 

“I was shocked and very confused by the email and I’m worried about what this meant for other contractors, the clients and myself,” said one contractor. 

Contractors quitting

Arden declined an interview, but provided a statement when asked for clarity on what it told contractors about taxes before the audit.

“Arden does not provide personal income tax advice to its contractors,” the statement said. “The company’s independent contractor agreements have always stated that contractors are responsible for their own tax decisions and remittances.”

The statement said the CRA has directed Arden to issue tax documents to contractors starting with the 2025 year. The CRA is also looking at Arden’s documents for 2023 and 2024, the statement said, but the company hopes the change will only apply to 2025 and future years. 

CBC has obtained emails that show at least three workers quit immediately after management informed contractors of the CRA audit. 

They felt the tax implications meant they couldn’t afford to continue working for the company. 

Contractors make $19.50 an hour, but that was raised to $20.50 an hour when Arden announced the audit. 

Staffing fallout

CBC has spoken to multiple sources who confirm that more workers quit in the days after the first emails. 

“I know personally some co-workers that have decided not to continue as well. I would say easily a dozen people,” said a second contractor, whose identity CBC is also protecting. 

The second contractor told CBC that “spectacular” gaps are opening in the schedule. The first source said some of the remaining contractors have been scheduled to work up to 66 hours in a row to care for clients. 

“A lot of these clients are used to having the same small, close-knit teams surrounding them every day, and every night,” the first contractor said, adding that the workers may attend doctors visits with clients or pick them up from school, forming a “fixture” in the clients’ lives. 

The sources say although the Department of Opportunities and Social Development requires a staffing ratio of two workers to one client, some Arden houses are now being staffed by only one contractor at a time. 

They say this is a safety issue for everyone as some clients can become violent. The second contractor characterized working solo as “extremely dangerous.” 

CBC asked Arden by email about its plan to care for clients with falling staffing levels, including the concern about contractors working solo.

In a written response, Arden said it continues to work with the department “to ensure there are no changes to client care and safety which are top priorities for Arden.” 

The company did not provide further details. 

$184 million paid to Arden since 2018

Nova Scotia’s public accounts reporting shows that since 2018 Arden Professional Client Care and its sister company Arden Independent Living have together accepted a total of $184,179,648 from the Department of Opportunities and Social Development.

In a statement, the department said as of March 30 it had placed 12 children in care with Arden, and 44 adults with disabilities. The department previously told CBC on March 18 it was using 23 temporary emergency arrangements for children in care in total.

The department confirmed there are four other temporary emergency arrangement providers in Nova Scotia that care for children.

It explained Arden’s “master agreement” with the department has expired, but the company continues to work under the same terms.

The department said after it learned Arden was treating its workers as contractors, officials told the company in March it had to file T4As, and comply with “all applicable laws and regulations.”

However, the minister indicated she is satisfied with the level of care.

“We are in constant contact with our service providers, including Arden, and at this time we have no concerns about staffing levels,” said Barbara Adams, minister of Opportunities and Social Development.”

“We have a number of inspection processes both planned and unplanned through our department and we do that periodically, and we’ve done so recently. We have no reason to suspect the care is not being provided accurately and [to] the level of standard that we would set.”

Concerns flagged in 2024

Two years ago, a report by the Auditor General warned that the province’s weak oversight of these types of care arrangements could be a risk to the safety of the vulnerable people in care. 

Auditor General Kim Adair’s 2024 report examined “temporary emergency arrangements” or TEA’s, which is the name for placing children taken into government care with companies like Arden. 

In an interview with CBC this week, Adair expanded on the possible risks she foresaw in 2024. 

“The responsibility is under the minister to make sure that the checks and the balances and the social worker support, is [there] to make sure that these children are well cared for,” she said. 

According to Adair’s findings, Arden provided approximately 83 per cent of the TEAs contracted by the province between 2021 and 2023. Three other companies made up the rest of the contracts. 

Normally the auditor general follows up two years after an audit, but Adair chose to follow up at six months, this week, and again next spring due to the vulnerability of the children involved. 

“We wanted to send a signal to the department and to the minister that this is serious stuff,” she said. “And you need to make sure that these children are cared for.”  

According to 2025 policy documents, arrangements with companies like Arden are supposed to last no longer than seven days unless it’s an exceptional circumstance. However, the auditor general’s report found that, on average, the length of stay in a TEA was eight months. 

Contractors fear financial ruin

Although Arden contractors are worried about the clients, sources say they’re also concerned about their own financial future. 

“They may be worried about how they’re going to keep a roof over their head, how they’re going to pay for their vehicle payment,” said the first contractor. 

The second contractor said they know of people who work full time for Arden and have families, who will be affected in a “pretty traumatic” way. 

The CRA audit may not be the last one Arden faces. According to the auditor general’s findings, a contract was signed between TEA providers and the Department of Opportunities and Social Development in October 2023. 

That contract gives the province the power to subject providers like Arden to an audit up to seven years after the final payment of public funds.