With record breaking population growth and a strong economy, demand for housing in Nova Scotia has been outpacing supply. Your PC government has been working hard to identify and implement solutions to Nova Scotia’s housing challenges. Here’s just some of what we’ve done so far.
Solutions for First Time Homebuyers
To help more first time homebuyers be able to enter the market, in June our government made changes to the Downpayment Assistance Program. Our PC Government:
- Increased the maximum home purchase price required to be eligible
- Increased the total household income eligibility to $145,000, up from $75,000
- Providing all recipients with 5% of the home's price to help cover their down payment.
Solutions to Grow the Housing Supply
We are getting more housing approved and built by:
- Amending the HRM Charter to shorten the approval process for new developments
- Designating special planning areas in HRM to accelerate the approval of 22,600 units
- Selling crown land to private and non-profit developers to accommodate more housing across the province
We are growing the number of skilled tradespeople in Nova Scotia by:
- Eliminating income tax on the first $50,000 of income for eligible trades workers under 30
- Investing $750,000 to double the high school skilled trades program
- Launching marketing campaigns to attract skilled trades workers to NS
- Making changes to apprenticeship ratios to train more skilled trades workers
Solutions for Maintaining and Growing the Stock of Affordable Housing
Maintaining and growing the supply of affordable housing by:
- Supporting the creation of over 1,100 new affordable units
- Making hundreds of new rent supplements available
- Giving municipalities the power to require affordable housing in new developments
- Providing nonprofits with loans to protect existing affordable housing supply