Provincial form
Nova Scotia Disability Support Program — medical report
Nova Scotia’s Disability Support Program (DSP) funds community living, respite, and related supports for people with intellectual disabilities, long-term mental illness, or physical disabilities. The medical piece is not a sick note for ESIA (Employment Support and Income Assistance). It describes the impairment and the support the person actually needs. Use the DSP form or package the caseworker sent.
What DSP is asking you for
DSP is a voluntary supports program, not a tax credit and not CPP Disability. Caseworkers need diagnoses that are actually disabling, how they show up in daily living, and whether this is long-term. “Has autism” without communication, safety, or personal-care examples will not tell them whether Independent Living Support or a different option is even in the conversation.
The department publishes DSP policy and program streams (Flex, Independent Living Support, Direct Family Support for Children, licensed homes, and others). You do not pick the stream on the medical form unless the PDF asks. You describe function. They apply policy.
You are not the housing allocator
Do not write “requires a group home” as if that were a prescription. Write the overnight supervision, medication, or behavioural support the person needs. Placement is a program decision.
Who completes it
The physician, nurse practitioner, or other professional the current DSP package names. For intellectual disability and mental illness, the clinician who actually follows the person — often family practice plus psychology or psychiatry notes — beats a one-visit walk-in. Stay inside your scope.
How to complete the medical sections
- Conditions and year of onset, as the chart supports.
- Daily-living examples: bathing, medications, money, community safety, communication, behaviour that needs support.
- Whether the impairment is long-term. DSP is not built around a six-week sprain.
- Current treatment and residual need on treatment.
- Who else documents the disability (psychologist, OT, developmental paediatrician) so DSP is not reading only your problem list.
- If the person also has an ESIA file, do not mix a short-term work note into the DSP medical.
Worked example (fictional)
DSP medical — adult with intellectual disability, family practice
Fictional 24-year-old. Do not copy into a real DSP package.
Conditions: moderate intellectual disability (diagnosed childhood); anxiety. Lives with parents. Function: cannot independently manage medications or banking; needs daily prompts for hygiene; cannot take public transit alone in unfamiliar areas; becomes distressed and leaves stores without support. Tx: sertraline 50 mg, weekly community-living support when funded. Restriction is ongoing, not a flare. I am the FP since 2019. Psychology assessment 2018 is on chart. I am not requesting a specific DSP stream. Not an ESIA sick note. Not T2201 — family may need T2201 separately.
Why DSP asks for more
- Diagnosis without daily-living examples.
- A time-limited injury treated as a lifelong disability.
- Missing identifiers or an unsigned form.
- Copying an ODSP Health Status Report word for word, including Ontario statute language.
- Recommending a placement you cannot describe in support hours.
Draft the DSP medical from the visit
In Scribeberry, open Forms, search for Nova Scotia Disability Support, or upload the DSP PDF you were given. Generate from the encounter and your notes, then edit every field before you sign. Scribeberry does not pre-map this form. You still review and sign. Scribeberry does not file with the Province of Nova Scotia.
Frequently asked questions
Is DSP the same as ESIA?
No. ESIA is income assistance. DSP is a disability supports program with its own eligibility and forms. Complete the package that was requested.
Do I decide which DSP stream they get?
No. Describe function and support needs. The department applies policy to Flex, ILS, family-support streams, and licensed settings.
Should I also complete T2201?
Only if the family asked for the Disability Tax Credit. T2201 is a CRA form with a different legal test. Do not assume DSP approval means DTC, or the reverse.
Does Scribeberry submit this to DSP?
No. Scribeberry helps you complete the PDF. The applicant or you return it to the caseworker. Keep a copy in the chart.
Forms
