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Part II .

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Personal Directives Regulations

made under

Section 32 of the

Personal Directives Act

S.N.S. 2008, c. 8

O.I.C. 2010-71 (February 16, 2010), N.S. Reg. 31/2010

amended by O.I.C. 2025-266 (effective October 23, 2025), N.S. Reg. 188/2025

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Citation

Definitions for Act and regulations

Service of notice of application to court

Assessment of capacity under

Section 10, 11 or 13 of the Act

Designation of assessors

List of assessors

Training and continuing competence

Revocation of designation as assessor

Guidelines for conducting capacity assessments

Factors to be considered when deciding best interests

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Personal Directives Regulations .

Definitions for Act and regulations

(1) In these regulations,

“Act” means the Personal Directives Act ;

“assessor” means a person designated under these regulations to conduct an

assessment of a person’s capacity;

“capacity assessment coordinator” means an individual who provides capacity

assessment training to assessors under the direction of the Public Trustee.

(2) In the Act and these regulations,

“health care” means any examination, procedure, service or treatment that is done

for a therapeutic, preventative, palliative, diagnostic or other health-related

purpose, and includes a course of health care or a care plan;

“guardian” means a person appointed to be a guardian by a court in a province of

Canada;

“person represented” means a person on whose behalf decisions are made by a

statutory decision maker, but for the purposes of subsection 10(2) of the Act means

an individual.

(3) In

Section 8 of the Act, “remuneration” does not include reimbursement for

reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by a delegate in exercising their

authority under a personal directive.

Service of notice of application to court

3 In addition to the persons listed in subsection 30(1) of the Act, a notice of an application

to a court under

Section 29 of the Act must be served on all of the following persons:

(

a) the legal representative of the maker or person represented;

(

b) the nearest relative of the maker or person represented;

(

c) if the maker or person represented resides in a continuing-care home or a

hospital, the manager or person in charge of the continuing-care home or the

hospital.

Assessment of capacity under

Section 10, 11 or 13 of the Act

(1) An assessment or reassessment of a person’s capacity for the purposes of Sections

10, 11 or 13 of the Act must be conducted by an assessor, in accordance with the

Act, these regulations and any guidelines established by the Minister under Section

(2) An assessor conducting an assessment or reassessment of capacity under

subsection (1) must complete an “Assessment of Capacity to make Decisions

about a Personal Care Matter Form” as approved by the Minister.

Designation of assessors

4A

(1) All of the following health professionals are designated as assessors:

(

a) a medical practitioner under the Medical Act or the regulations made under

the Regulated Health Professions Act ;

(

b) a registered psychologist under the Psychologists Act or the regulations

made under the Regulated Health Professions Act .

(2) Any of the following health professionals, who has successfully completed a

capacity assessment course under the direction of a capacity assessment

coordinator, is designated as an assessor:

(

a) a registered nurse or nurse practitioner under the Nursing Act or the

regulations made under the Regulated Health Professions Act ;

(

b) a social worker under the Social Workers Act ;

(

c) an occupational therapist under the regulations made under the Regulated

Health Professions Act ;

(

d) a licensed and practising member of any other health profession determined

by the Minister who meets the requirements set by the Minister.

List of assessors

4B The Minister must maintain a list of persons who are designated as assessors under

subsection 4A(2) and may make the list available to the public.

Training and continuing competence

4C The Minister may establish or approve any of the following for the training of assessors:

(

a) training courses;

(

b) a continuing competence program.

Revocation of designation as assessor

4D The Minister may revoke an assessor’s designation made under subsection 4A(2) for any

of the following reasons:

(

a) the Minister is satisfied that the person is not conducting capacity

assessments in accordance with the Act and these regulations;

(

b) any reason that the Minister considers warrants the revocation of their

designation.

Guidelines for conducting capacity assessments

5 The Minister may establish guidelines for conducting capacity assessments and

reassessments.

Factors to be considered when deciding best interests

6 A delegate or a statutory decision-maker who is deciding under clause 15(2)(

c) of the

Act what is in the best interests of a maker or person represented must consider all of the

following:

(

a) whether the maker’s or person represented’s condition or well-being is

likely to be improved by the proposed care or will not deteriorate because of

it;

(

b) whether the maker’s or person represented’s condition or well-being is

likely to improve without the proposed care or is not likely to deteriorate

without it;

(

c) whether the benefit the maker or person represented is expected to obtain

from the proposed care is greater than the risk of harm or other negative

consequences;

(

d) whether the benefit of a less restrictive or less intrusive form of available

care is greater than the risk of harm or other negative consequences.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Personal Directives Regulations

N.S. Reg.

31/2010

Personal Directives Act

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Personal Directives Regulations made

under the Personal Directives Act includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

31/2010

Apr 1, 2010

date specified

Mar 12, 2010

188/2025

Oct 23, 2025

date specified

Oct 3, 2025

The following regulations are not

yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs . = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

2(1), defn . of “assessor” ...................

ad. 188/2025

2(1), defn . of “capacity

assessment coordinator” ...................................

ad. 188/2025

2(1), defn . of “physician” .................

rep. 188/2025

4 ........................................................

rs . 188/2025

4A-4D ..............................................

ad. 188/2025

5 ........................................................

rs . 188/2025

Form 1 ..............................................

rep. 188/2025

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.