Many workers at a company the Nova Scotia government contracts to care for vulnerable adults and children feel they’ve been unfairly treated, after they say Arden Professional Client Care let them believe for years their pay was not taxable — and that the company went so far as to put it in writing.

“It feels like we’re being the scapegoat somewhat in this whole situation,” said Steve Keddy, an Arden worker and retired teacher and school principal.

Arden’s funding comes from the provincial Department of Opportunities and Social Development. Over the past eight years, the company accepted more than $184 million in public money, according to provincial government financial statements.

The company declined to comment on this story.

Keddy says he and many other workers believed the pay from Arden was not taxable.

He’s worked for Arden for the last seven years and says he was told about taxes in a face-to-face orientation session after he was hired.

He says Arden pointed to a section of tax law to suggest the pay was non-taxable, and compared their work to that of foster parents.

“The way it was described, basically, was we’re foster care workers with someone funneling the money in between,” he said.

Multiple other workers who spoke to CBC to provide background information have described being told similar things by the company. An online petition signed by hundreds of people indicates Arden workers “were hired under the understanding that their remuneration qualified as tax-exempt.”

Keddy has been advocating for himself and his fellow workers since Arden announced in March the company had been audited by the Canada Revenue Agency. He organized that petition, which has been forwarded to a local MLA, MP, and the federal taxpayers’ ombudsperson.

Arden hadn’t issued tax slips for previous years, and it classifies its workers as independent contractors. The company recently told CBC News it doesn’t provide personal income tax advice to its workers, and they are responsible for their own tax decisions.

‘We all believed that everyone knew what they were doing’

Keddy says about five years ago Arden management asked workers to sign contracts that stated they are independent contractors and responsible for “applicable taxes.”

CBC has viewed examples of Arden contracts which use this language and date from 2021.

But according to Keddy, since the company didn’t collect his social insurance number or issue tax slips after he signed the contract, he assumed there were no applicable taxes and continued on as before.

“We’re talking tens of millions [in] public money every year, and hundreds of people working under this belief, a contract with the provincial government,” he said.

“I guess we all believed that everyone knew what they were doing and that it was non-taxable.”

Wage described as ‘non-taxable’ in writing

A couple of years after signing the contract, Keddy says he had to ask Arden for a letter to prove his income when he was applying for refinancing on a loan.

Keddy shared a copy of his letter with CBC. The letter is signed by Arden’s vice-president and describes his $19.50/hour pay as a “non-taxable wage.”

Keddy says the letter he received in 2023 cemented his belief that the money was not taxable.

CBC obtained copies of five other letters — from sources independent of each other — that are similar to Keddy’s. Those letters have different names and amounts of pay, and date from 2023, 2024, and 2025.

CBC spoke directly to two of the workers whose names are on those letters, who confirmed they received the letters from Arden management when they needed to prove their income to financial institutions.

All the letters use the phrase “non-taxable wage.” Keddy says some of his co-workers have also shown him their letters.

“It’s not one person who misinterpreted one letter,” he said. “There are lots of letters out there.” 

CBC sent a detailed letter to Arden outlining the workers’ concerns. CBC asked the company whether it takes issue with the information the workers say they were told at orientation, and the letters the workers provided. The company did not comment.

For Ottawa labour lawyer Malini Vijaykumar, the language of the Arden letters is “a little bit of an oxymoron.”

“A wage is the income that you get for performing work,” she said, adding that income in Canada is taxable.

“And so to call something a non-taxable wage is — I’m not sure that that’s a thing that exists in Canada,” she said.

Hope for a solution

Steve Keddy acknowledges that he’s heard some of his coworkers discussing whether they need to get legal advice to investigate their rights.

But for now, he’s holding out hope for a different solution.

“That’s a bridge I guess people will cross when they get to it,” he said. “But I’m really hoping that we can deal with this in a positive way.”

“It’s a huge issue and it really does need to be addressed.”

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