Halifax, Nova Scotia is facing a significant housing shortage, with the need for an additional 17,500 housing units, according to a housing assessment commissioned by the province. If construction does not increase, this shortage is expected to grow to 31,000 units by 2027.
The consulting firm Turner Drake & Partners conducted the report, which was commissioned by the province in the spring of 2022 to assess the housing needs of all 49 municipalities. While the government released information about the overall housing needs of the province in October, it left it up to individual municipalities to disclose their specific situations.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage acknowledged the findings of the report, stating that more people are moving to the city than there are houses being built. The population of the municipality grew by 20,344 between 2015 and 2021-2022, reaching a total of 480,525.
Savage expressed concern about the shortage of affordable housing and pointed out that while the number of permits issued has increased, many construction projects are being put on hold due to high interest rates and a lack of labor.
To meet the growing demand, Halifax will need to increase construction by approximately 6,000 units per year. This is a significant increase from the roughly 3,000 units built annually in recent years.
The Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing emphasized the need to close the supply gap in order for housing prices to stabilize. A provincial needs assessment conducted as part of the report indicated that if Nova Scotia had built an additional 40,000 dwellings since 2016, the overall residential market price would have been around $300,000 in 2022, compared to the actual price of nearly $635,000.
The inividual housing needs assessments for each of Nova Scotia’s municipalities can be accessed to understand their specific housing situations. Some municipalities have not yet shared their assessments with CBC News but will be added to the map as they become available.