Three people standing together smiling, with a colorful birthday cake banner in the background, in an indoor room.

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Directions Council of Nova Scotia: From Stipends to Wages

Project Snapshot:

Client: Directions Council of Nova Scotia 

Location: Halifax, NS

Sector: Social & Human Services 

Services: Training and employment support to people with intellectual disabilities

Timeline: 2025

Two people baking together in a kitchen, both wearing hairnets and aprons, one older woman and one younger person, mixing ingredients in a metal bowl with an electric hand mixer.
A man and a young woman taking a selfie in front of a Christmas tree and decorative foliage and trees.
Two women standing outdoors near a body of water, smiling and posing for a photo, with a scenic background of water and green hills.

Impact at a glance:

  • Clear pathways identified for viable waged employment for 24 organizations.

  • Assisted in the assessment of 81 Social Enterprises with only 6 suspended as they could not support paying wages.

  • A lasting shift toward viewing entire organizations as social enterprises using both social and business lenses.

  • Next step - help them to develop new pricing strategies based on paid wages.

A smiling woman with dark hair tied back, wearing a pink floral blouse, gold necklace, and a lanyard with a medal, sitting at a table in a room with a window, a cart, and sunlight on the wall.

  • The Challenge:

  • The member organizations of the Directions Council of Nova Scotia needed to transition social enterprise employees from stipends to wages in alignment with The Remedy.

A group of ten young people gathered in a retail store, surrounded by clothing racks, some smiling at the camera.
Two men sitting outdoors on wooden benches in a park on a sunny day. One man in the foreground is smiling, wearing sunglasses and a green zip-up hoodie. The other man in the background is giving a thumbs-up, wearing glasses and a dark T-shirt with a logo. There are trees and picnic tables in the background.

Our Approach:

Our approach was to focus on bringing new business skills to these organizations that have built meaningful social enterprises that needed to adjust to a big change.

We Delivered:

In partnership with our colleagues at Social Enterprise Solutions and Julie Forrester Consulting:

  • Facilitated 5 regional workshops in the five regions across the province. 

  • Delivered monthly webinars.

  • Developed an online set of resources to support the work

  • Coached 24 organizations to strengthen their business skills and adapt operations for sustainable, waged employment.

A woman wearing a pink uniform, hairnet, and glasses is placing baked bread rolls on a tray in a commercial kitchen or bakery setting.

Our Impact:

  • Individuals with disabilities are getting paid for the work they do in the social enterprises across the province.

  • Not one organization has had to close its doors because of the change in funding.

A Human Moment:

The moment in a coaching call when the relief of an Executive Director was evident when she said…” You’re not going to tell us to close our doors?!

Client Reflection
Jeff Kelly, impact consulting, social enterprise leader
“Lisa and the SES consulting team provided thoughtful, responsive support that helped hundreds of Nova Scotians with diverse abilities access real wage employment.”

~ Jeff Kelly, Executive Director, Directions Council

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