Housing Research Program

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/

Understanding Access to Justice for Tenants in Nova Scotia

In May 2025, we launched a survey of tenants in Nova Scotia as part of our Housing Research Program led by Community Legal Worker Dr. Hannah Main. This program was designed to fill the gaps in data about renting in Nova Scotia. There's a serious shortage of information about tenants' experiences, as the government doesn't publish key information from Residential Tenancies. Throughout the next year we'll be analyzing data from the Residential Tenancies Program, and gathering insights directly from tenants through a survey on rental experiences and access to justice.

Our first report based on this survey, Human Rights in a Housing Crisis, launched on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025 with an event at the Schulich School of Law.

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. “Fixed-term leases lack security of tenure, a key component of the right to housing,” said Community Legal Worker Hannah Main, who co-authored the study. “For the right to housing to be realized, tenants need to know that they will not be forced out of their homes without cause or notice.”

The tenants’ survey also shows that the majority of tenants report a rent increase within the past year, and half of respondents report having a problem with their housing within the past year. However, many tenants took no legal action about their problems: only 6.2 percent of tenants report making an application to the Residential Tenancies Program for their issues. Residential Tenancies Program data shows that tenants apply to the Program at a much lower rate than landlords do, and that most tenants lack legal representation.

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.

Read the report below, or click here to download as a PDF.

Cover page of a report titled 'Human Rights in a Housing Crisis' with subtitle about tenants' experiences of legal access to safe, affordable, and habitable housing in Nova Scotia, dated October 2023, authored by Hannah Main, Mark Culligan, Abby Dodg
Text document about Dalhousie Legal Aid Service, its history, services, core values, and author information, with a list of acknowledgments at the end.
Table of contents from a report about renting in Nova Scotia in 2025, listing chapters and pages.
A two-page spread of a report or article titled "HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS" with the headline "KEY FINDINGS". The text discusses Tenant rights, legal issues, and housing problems in Nova Scotia, including survey results and legal aid services.
Page from a document with the heading "Introduction" and the title "Human Rights in a Housing Crisis". The page contains multiple paragraphs discussing housing rights and policies, including references to Canada and Nova Scotia. There is a footnote a
Text-heavy document discussing housing crisis in Nova Scotia, legal issues, tenant rights, and policy reforms related to residential tenancies.
Page from a report titled "The Context: Renting in Nova Scotia in 2025" with text discussing rental housing, vacancy rates, and government policies in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Partial view of a printed document showing a table titled "Geographical distribution of rental households in Nova Scotia" with data comparing various regions within Nova Scotia on total households, ownership, rentals, and other factors, followed by t
Text document discussing human rights issues related to housing crisis, evictions, and homelessness in Nova Scotia.
A detailed infographic titled 'Legal Process for Residential Tenancies Dispute Resolution' outlining steps and forms involved in tenant-landlord disputes, focusing on notices to quit, security deposit claims, rental arrears claims, and appeal process
A page from a research document with the title 'RESEARCH METHODS' and text discussing research questions, residential tenancies, small claims court data, and human rights in a housing crisis.
A scan of two pages from a report or article discussing tenant issues, residential tenancy cases, a survey, and legal aid services in Nova Scotia, with a focus on housing crises and tenant rights.
Map of Nova Scotia showing survey respondents by postal code first three digits, with areas shaded from yellow to red representing increasing respondent numbers.
A page from a report or book with the heading 'Results' and a table showing survey responses about lease terms. The table lists categories such as year-to-year, fixed-term, month-to-month, and others, along with the number of respondents and percenta
Line graph showing lease terms by move-in year from before 2010 to 2025, with categories for 'Don't know', 'Fixed-term', and 'All other lease types'.
Table showing survey respondents' lease terms by landlord type, including categories such as don't know, fixed-term, month-to-month, other, year-to-year, and total for each landlord type. The table has data on different landlord types like companies,
A printed document page discussing the right to housing and feelings of safety, including a table showing survey responses about safety perceptions at home and a section on factors influencing safety concerns.
A table with survey responses about feeling unsafe at home, broken down by gender identity, showing the number of respondents who feel completely safe, mostly safe, somewhat safe, mostly unsafe, and completely unsafe.
Page from a report or survey detailing information about rent increases, sources of income, and tenancy problems. Contains a table with data on main sources of income, rent increases, and a section discussing tenancy issues in housing crises.
A page from a report titled 'Human Rights in a Housing Crisis' showing a table summarizing coded responses to a survey question on problems faced with housing units in the past 12 months, including issues like conditions of premises, bedbugs, landlor
This image shows a table detailing responses to a survey question about where respondents sought information or support regarding housing problems in the past 12 months. It includes sources such as internet searches, family, friends, government resou
A page from a report or article titled 'Human Rights in a Housing Crisis' with a table showing responses to actions taken by respondents or their legal representatives to address problems with their housing unit, landlord, or management in the past 1
Table showing barriers faced by respondents in taking action, with data on the number of respondents and percentage reporting each barrier. The table is from a study on legal problems experienced in daily life and includes responses such as hopelessn
Table showing the number of eviction applications submitted to the Residential Tenancies Program in Nova Scotia from 2019 to 2024 by region, including unknown, Cape Breton, Halifax, other mainland Nova Scotia, and total.
Map of Halifax, Nova Scotia showing the number of eviction applications from 2019 to 2024, categorized by first three digits of postal codes with a color legend showing ranges from 1-250 to 1251-1500 applications, along with inset maps highlighting s
A scanned page of a report discussing human rights in a housing crisis, with sections titled "Small Claims Court Data" and "Human Rights in a Housing Crisis", including data on residential tenancies, landlord types, property owners, and financial inv
Page from a report or academic paper with a table titled 'Grounds for claim by landlord type' showing data on landlord categories and their reasons for claims, and a footer labeled 'Human Rights in a Housing Crisis' with the page number 24.
A table showing the average cost of rent, average rental arrears claimed, and average amount tenant ordered to pay for different landlord types, including chain, financial, multiple owner, non-profit, and single owner, with specific dollar amounts li
Text from a book page discussing housing issues, including sections on 'Discussion and Conclusion,' 'Secure Housing,' 'Habitable Housing,' and 'Affordable Housing.'
Page from a report or book titled 'Human Rights in a Housing Crisis' with the page number 27 visible.
A page of academic references related to housing, homelessness, and legal issues, with links to sources and publications.
Academic document page titled 'HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS' with citations and references on housing policies and issues in Canada.
Survey questionnaire on tenants' housing experience in Nova Scotia, including questions about residence, duration, age, unit type, and building characteristics.
Page 31 of a document titled "HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS" with numbered questions about housing, including options about types of housing units, number of people living there, ownership, and tenant demographics.
A scanned survey or questionnaire form titled 'HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS'. The form includes multiple-choice questions related to tenant rights, lease agreements, and housing safety, with options like 'Don't know', 'Other', and 'Prefer not to
A questionnaire titled 'HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS' with multiple choice questions about housing safety, costs, rent, and payment methods.
Page from a document about housing issues, including questions about rent payments, rental supplements, and sources of help for housing crises, with references to legal aid services and legal resources in Nova Scotia.
Document with multiple-choice questions about actions taken in a housing crisis, barriers faced, and rights, titled 'HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS'.
A section of a questionnaire or survey form on a printed page discussing human rights issues in a housing crisis, including questions about experiences with unwanted sexual behavior, reasons for moving, and involuntary moves from home within the past
A survey questionnaire titled 'Human Rights in a Housing Crisis' with questions about involuntary moves, landlord issues, tenancy hearings, and residential tenancy forms.
Page from a survey or questionnaire titled "Human Rights in a Housing Crisis" with questions about eviction, income, employment, and matching categories to job types. The page number is 38.
A multiple-choice survey form titled 'Human Rights in a Housing Crisis' with questions about employment, work-from-home status, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, and marital status.
A close-up of a printed survey or questionnaire about human rights and disability in a housing crisis, with questions and multiple-choice options.
Page from a survey or questionnaire titled 'HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS'. The page contains multiple questions with multiple-choice answers related to personal history, living situation, and social issues, numbered from 55 to 59.
Page with survey questions about experiences as a tenant in Nova Scotia, including questions on responses, participation, and future research interest, titled 'HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS'.
A page from a report or book titled 'Appendix B: Coding of Open-Ended Questions' with a table listing different codes and their descriptions related to problems faced in housing issues, such as landlord disputes, bedbugs, eviction types, etc. The pag
Page from a document titled "HUMAN RIGHTS IN A HOUSING CRISIS" shows a table listing factors affecting housing safety concerns, including tenant issues, landlord issues, financial insecurity, and other unsafe conditions.

You should discuss any questions you have about this program with Lead Researcher Hannah Main: Hannah.Main@dal.ca \ 902-423-2158