N.S. government pledges $1 billion for over 40,000 new housing units over five years

The provincial government released its long-awaited housing strategy Monday, pledging a $1-billion investment over five years to create conditions necessary to create 40,000 housing units across Nova Scotia.

“We need more, more supply, more people to build and more collaboration,” Housing Minister John Lohr said in introducing the provincial five-year housing action plan.

“I said from Day 1 that fixing the housing crisis and increasing the housing stock is going to take time, hard work and a willingness to do things differently,” Lohr said, touting the majority Progressive Conservative government’s “almost $300 million” in investments to increase, improve and preserve housing stock since taking office in the summer of 2021.

“We are just getting started,” the minister said. 
“We brought in key legislation to protect tenants from unacceptable rent increases and cut red tape to ensure development can proceed as quickly as possible.

“We are improving our public housing system through the first investment in decades to build 222 more units that will house over 500 people.”

The government plan is driven by a provincewide 148-page housing needs assessment report, also released Monday, which gathered feedback from 21,000 Nova Scotians, 115 employers and more than 100 organizations.

The report completed by Turner Drake & Partners Ltd., estimates that at the current pace of construction that puts 6,000 units on the market each year, there will be a shortage of 41,200 housing units by 2027-28 and 44,000 by 2032 if aggressive action is not taken. 

There is a current shortfall of 27,300 units.

The Turner Drake analysis found that many Nova Scotians are facing difficult housing circumstances and the overall housing outlook should worsen if demand continues to grow and remains unmet by supply. Adding housing stock is the most effective way to bring house prices down in Nova Scotia. 

The housing crisis intensified over the last few years with significant changes to the purchasing power of individuals and households related to rapid inflation and rising interest rates, the assessment found. An increase to the cost of materials, combined with labour shortages, has created a reduction in the viability of housing development.

The Turner Drake report found that despite those factors there has been a greater recent pace of construction in the province than historically. Still, that pace is not enough to meet the demand for housing that has been spiking for years because of an increase in households and provincial population, driven by in-migration increases that have been occurring since 2015-16.

Andrew Scanlan Dickie, manager of the planning division for Turner Drake, said results of the analysis helped with an understanding of how housing challenges vary from place to place but “the overarching lessons must be that they are the result of both recent and long-running trends, they will not be resolved without sustained attention and investment, and the private, public, and non-profit sectors of the housing system all have crucial roles to play.”

Housing data

Lohr said this marks the first time that Nova Scotia has had this level of housing data.

“We now have access to the comprehensive data from the provincial housing needs assessment report to help inform all of us on how to close the housing gap in our communities,” Lohr said.

“We have a plan and that plan was crafted with the voices of Nova Scotians at the centre.”

That plan is to collaborate with partners to increase housing supply, to grow and sustain affordable housing and to deliver programs to people in need.

“Housing is not and cannot be the sole responsibility of any single level of government or sector,” Lohr said. 

“It’s about all of us working together . . . to make significant change. Our (49) municipalities play a key role as enablers in increasing housing supply.”

Targets, actions

The 38-page government housing plan, which has originally been promised for release this past spring, includes six specific targets and 12 actions.

The five-year targets include 26,000 new units approved for fast-track development through existing special planning areas, shaving 12 months off housing approvals in HRM, 3,000 new homes to be supported on provincial land, 1,500 households to be created through incentives for secondary suites and conversion of short-term rentals, 1,200 new long-term care rooms to help seniors and other Nova Scotians live in dignity and 9,500 new homes to be supported through tax measures and legislative changes.

The plan calls for making at least 17,250 household units more affordable over the five-year period and improving housing conditions for more than 47,900 households.

The 12 actions include: using provincial land and infrastructure to create housing; increasing the numbers of skilled trades workers in the province to build homes; reducing red tape and updating housing laws; growing the community housing sector; repairing and upgrading affordable housing; making public housing more accountable and more accessible; dedicating funding to Indigenous and African Nova Scotians; and helping to move people experiencing homelessness to housing.

‘Massive commitment’

“Some of what we will do are things that we’ve already done,” Lohr said when asked what was new in the plan as opposed to initiatives already announced.

“We are making a massive commitment going forward. We recognize there is a massive need and this is a call to action for us. We’re making plans, we’re being nimble, we’re going forward.”

Opposition critics were not convinced.

“Underwhelming,” said Braedon Clark, the Liberal MLA for Bedford South.

“I don’t see much new information or money in here that’s going to make a difference for people.”

Clark said the housing assessment survey is helpful but could have gone further with the province releasing housing targets for each municipality. 

Suzy Hansen, the NDP representative for Halifax Needham, said the plan consists of a lot of words but not a lot of action.

“We know that there are things that need to be done and yet we haven’t seen the action on that,” Hansen said. 

“It lacks any types of definitions, it lacks an actual affordability marker . . . it doesn’t give us any indication of how many more public housing units may be built.”