N.S. brings in rent control, bans ‘renovictions’ amidst affordable housing crunch
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s Liberal government is bringing in rent control amidst a series of evictions of low-income tenants and rising homelessness in Halifax.
Housing Minister Chuck Porter said today that rents across the province can’t increase by more than two per cent a year.
He also says landlords at this time will not be able to obtain an eviction order for renovations — informally known as a “renoviction” — because he says people shouldn’t be forced out of their homes during the pandemic.
The province is also creating the Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Commission, composed of representatives from the public, private, non-profit and academic sectors, which will recommend ways to increase affordable housing.