Authorized Medical Practitioners in Nova Scotia

(updated for the 2016 tax year)

You can include fees from medical practitioners when calculating your Medical Expense Tax Credit. However, the list of authorized practitioners varies depending on which province or territory you live in.

Like almost every other province or territory in Canada, Nova Scotia considers licensed and registered practical nurses as authorized for the purposes of the Medical Expense Tax Credit. Nova Scotia’s list of authorized practitioners also includes registered nurses, nurse practitioners and midwives.

If you see a physician, pharmacist or surgeon, these fees are also eligible to be claimed.

To help you get the care you need, you are allowed to write off fees from any specialists that fall into the category of physician or any other category noted above. For example, since cardiologists are physicians, these fees are allowable for the purposes of this credit. However, podiatrists are not necessarily physicians. Unless your podiatrist is also a physician, applicable fees are not eligible.

While there are a range of specialists who do not fall into the category of nurse or physician, Nova Scotia still considers many of them as authorized. For example, dietitians, registered nutritionists, medical lab technologists, medical radiation technologists and respiratory therapists all make the list.

If you receive rehabilitative care or another type of care from an occupational therapist, physiotherapist or physical therapist, you can also claim these amounts on your return. Additionally, if you receive vision care from an optician or optometrist, you can also include these fees on your return.

In the realm of mental health care, psychologists, social workers and counselling therapists are all consider authorized in Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, if you receive care from a psychiatric nurse or a family and marriage therapist, you cannot include these fees when completing your return.

If you see a chiropractor, you can include his fees when calculating your Medical Expense Tax Credit. Additionally, you can include fees from naturopaths.

However, if you have fees from massage therapists or homeopaths, you cannot include these on your return.

The Canada Revenue Agency cares about your dental health. As a result, it allows you to include fees from most dental professionals when completing your return.

In particular, residents of Nova Scotia may claim fees from dental assistants, dental hygienists, dental technicians and dental technologists on their returns. Similarly, you may include fees from dentists, and from specialists such as denturists, dental mechanics or denturologists.

If you want to optimize your Medical Expense Tax Credit, you need to report as many medical expenses as possible. This is why it’s important to understand which practitioners are considered authorized in your area and schedule your health care with these rules in mind.