A landlord is required to comply with all appropriate accessibility legislation – including the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act.

In rental housing, the landlord has a duty to accommodate a person with disabilities to the point of undue hardship. This means they are legally required to provide you with the supports needed to equally access and enjoy both your unit and the common spaces. This can include large print on a letter from the landlord, a sensory-friendly application, braille on elevator buttons, or assistive technology and infrastructure like ramps. This can also include accommodations for mental health, like leniency for bad behaviour caused by mental health conditions (for more information on this, see Ending a Tenancy).

However, landlords are only required to accommodate to the point of undue hardship. If a landlord can prove it would be very difficult to provide the accommodation, they may not have to. It’s difficult to determine whether an accommodation will cause undue hardship; it will likely come down to a Residential Tenancy Officer’s judgment, and will depend on factors like the cost of the accommodation and impact on other tenants.

If a tenant believes they are being discriminated against because of a disability, they can pursue action both through Residential Tenancies and by filing a complaint to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. For more information on this, see Human Rights Commission.