New Regulations Remove Barriers, Create More Opportunities for Housing in HRM

The Province is taking further action to remove barriers and create more opportunities for housing in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).

“Nova Scotians need more housing, and that need is especially great in HRM,” said John Lohr, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “In order to truly address this housing crisis, we need to ensure that increasing supply is a key focus in the municipal planning process and the prime consideration in development decisions. These regulations will ensure that happens.”

New regulations under the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter will require the municipality to make increasing housing supply the priority focus in all land-use planning, regulations, decisions and development approvals under the municipal planning strategy.

Other changes to the charter’s Minimum Planning Requirements Regulations include:

• permitting residential uses in most zones, where appropriate
• removing on-site parking requirements for developments in the urban service area
• ensuring height restrictions do not impact density for mass timber residential developments
• removing unit-mix requirements and reducing the percentage of ground-floor commercial space required in residential buildings started before April 1, 2027
• permitting manufactured housing, including modified shipping containers, in all residential zones
• permitting temporary housing in all zones to allow employees to live on or near a work site during an assignment
• adopting a secondary municipal planning strategy for suburban areas by January 31, 2025.

Another new regulation requires the municipality to adopt a bylaw to support the implementation of Canada’s first trusted partner program for qualified developers. The program will provide more streamlined and expedited services for developers who have a solid track record of quality development submissions and are working with certified professionals. The date to have the bylaw in place will be determined and communicated to the municipality by the Minister.

The Minister has also prescribed that changes in colour, cladding material and the arrangement of windows and doors on the elevations of buildings and landscaping will be considered non-substantive matters in appeals of planning decisions for residential developments.

Quick Facts:

• the regulations support recommendations in the HRM Housing Development Barrier Review by Deloitte, which identified barriers to the safe and rapid increase in housing supply, and also complement work currently underway within the municipality in relation to the federal housing accelerator program

Additional Resources:

The new regulations and other regulations under the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter are available at: https://www.novascotia.ca/just/regulations/rxaa-l.htm#hrmcharter

News release – Independent Report Makes Recommendations on Reducing Barriers to Housing Development: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2022/10/19/independent-report-makes-recommendations-reducing-barriers-housing-development

Mandate letter for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing: https://novascotia.ca/exec_council/letters-2021/ministerial-mandate-letter-2021-MAH-EMO-MR.pdf