Housing Research Program
Where the government and landlord lobby groups have the money, organization, and resources to commission market research reports, policy papers, and conduct surveys of the rental market - there is a serious shortage of information on tenants’ experiences of renting in Nova Scotia. Let by economist and sociologist Dr. Hannah Main, this program was designed to fill those gaps. Reports are released and updated regularly, you can read and download them below.
who owns Halifax?
Who owns Halifax’s rental housing? Our research finds that a small number of individuals and companies own the majority of rental housing in the HRM, with financial firms alone owning nearly a quarter of units.
Using publicly available data, we identified and analyzed the owners of 1,420 properties representing 50,759 units, or 77.2% of registered rental units in the HRM.
The results challenge claims that Halifax’s rental market is dominated by small, “mom and pop” landlords and instead reveal a market increasingly controlled by large corporate, chain, and financial landlords.
CCPA-NS - Nova Scotia Alternative Budget 2026: For the Many
Community Legal Workers from Dal Legal Aid, alongside dozens of community groups, contributed to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Nova Scotia’s (CCPA-NS) Alternative Budget 2026.
From the CCPA-NS: “The alternative budget shifts the focus from supporting the few who benefit from outsourcing and offshoring, privatization, and resource extraction, to supporting the many who want a more equal, democratic, caring, and sustainable society. Now more than ever, we need alternative ideas about how to organize our economy and society.”
You can read more and download the full report here: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/nova-scotia-alternative-budget-2026-for-the-many/
Human rights in a housing crisis
The Human Rights in a Housing Crisis study, based on a province-wide survey of over 1,200 tenants and analysis of Residential Tenancies Program applications and decisions, shows that tenants face a slew of legal problems that often go unaddressed, resulting in continued insecurity that threatens their rights to secure, affordable, and habitable housing.
The study finds that fixed-term leases are becoming more prevalent over time in Nova Scotia, with a quarter of survey respondents reporting having a fixed-term lease. Of the tenants who signed their lease in 2025, over half report having a fixed-term lease.
This report calls for legislation and policy to take tenants’ rights to housing into account. Governments at every level have a commitment to work towards the realization of the right to housing for all. Tenants’ rights are a crucial part of addressing the ongoing housing crisis.
