Halifax student union leaders call on N.S. to address high cost of student housing

HALIFAX – Halifax university student union leaders are calling on the Nova Scotia government to address the high cost of housing they say is making it harder for students to study and live in the province.

During a news conference hosted by the Nova Scotia NDP, the president of the University of King’s College student union said fellow students have told her they are struggling to cope with high rent while paying for tuition and necessities like food. 

“We are hearing from our students, and students across the province, that this is a situation they cannot afford to live in,” Ellie Anderson said Wednesday.

Anderson and Ethan Leckie, a vice-president with the Dalhousie University student union, joined Nova Scotia NDP leader Claudia Chender to urge the government to make housing more affordable, including by replacing the temporary five per cent rent cap with a rent control system.

Leckie said Wednesday many students are working multiple part-time jobs or skipping out on buying groceries to pay rent in Halifax and elsewhere in the province.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says that as of October 2024, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment was just over $1,700 in Halifax, up 3.8 per cent compared to the year prior. However, the corporation found that the average rent for housing units that changed tenants in 2024 increased by about 28 per cent. 

Leckie said the provincial government should tie rent increases to the consumer price index, and “close the fixed-term lease loophole” that allows landlords to raise rents above the existing five per cent cap, which is in place until 2027. 

A fixed-term lease, unlike a periodic lease, does not automatically renew beyond its set end date. The rent cap covers periodic leases and situations in which a landlord signs a new fixed-term lease with the same tenant. But there is no rule preventing a landlord from raising the rent as much as they want after the term of a fixed lease expires — as long as they lease to someone new.

Housing advocates in the province have said these rules discourage landlords from re-signing fixed-term leases, and instead incentivize them to rent to someone new so they can raise the rent beyond the five per cent cap.

“Landlords are using this fixed-term lease loop hole to get around rent caps … students or other vulnerable populations in the community are being removed (from their rental units) and they are (raising rents) above this five per cent current rent cap,” Leckie said. 

When asked about these concerns from students, a spokesperson with the Department of Advanced Education said in an email the province has made historic investments to increase the supply of housing, and it is planning to spend $45 million over three years to create 400 new student beds in the province. Chloee Sampson also made note of the ongoing housing projects at seven Nova Scotia Community College campuses. 

“Our government has taken action to build more housing, leading to a higher vacancy rate and more options for students,” Sampson said in an email. 

Both student union leaders and Chender said Wednesday the housing options available remain unaffordable to many students. All three are also calling on the Progressive Conservative government to deliver the student housing strategy it promised in 2022.

“This government has made it easier to evict tenants, has stripped away what few rights boarders had in the most recent (legislature) session, and promised a student housing plan years ago that it failed to deliver,” Chender said. 

The provincial government did not directly respond to questions about the status of the student housing strategy. 

Anderson said she has also heard from students living in unsafe housing situations with landlords who are not addressing their concerns.

“A lot of our students have come to us saying they are in dangerous housing situations. Students saying they have holes in their floors or goo coming out of their ceiling, and that landlords are not responsive,” she said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2025.