Thomas Bjerke of Waterloo Street in Liverpool during an appeal hearing Tuesday of a proposed development next to his house. (Region of Queens YouTube)

A 10-unit apartment building in Liverpool, geared toward health-care workers, will go ahead after regional councillors turned down an appeal by local residents on Tuesday.

Thomas Bjerke and his wife live next to the undeveloped land on Waterloo Street. Bjerke told councillors he was worried about how the development would affect his and his neighbours’ quality of life. He appealed the site plan filed with the region.

“We are opposed to this project from the get-go,” he said at the appeal hearing, which was held during the regular council meeting.

“You’re taking the essence out of the neighbourhood by plopping a big building into essentially a house lot. 
So now we’re just foregoing any stage of quality of life.”

Bjerke said he and his neighbours are worried about increased traffic, noise and light pollution from the two-storey complex once it’s built.

He said that an enclosed garbage area planned for the property would be less than six metres from his bedroom window and about two metres from his backyard fence.

He said the area already has a problem with raccoons and rodents.

“But rats are the biggest issue in that area and we fear that by putting a garbage area that close to us and any of our neighbours is a deterrent to any healthy living because we have a backyard that will be right behind this and this is where we do most of our recreation during the summer months.”

The Housing Trust of Nova Scotia has been working on plans for the building for about a year.

They have a contract with the Nova Scotia government to build 116 modular units for health-care workers around the province.

Jordan Rogers, an engineer and project manager with the trust, told councillors that the plan is to build six two-bedroom units and four one-bedroom units on Waterloo Street, just around the corner from Old Bridge Street.

He said tenants are required to be nurses, doctors, hospital cafeteria workers or others who work in health care. If workers from that sector don’t fill the apartments, then they would be offered to those in the skilled trades. But Rogers said that the housing trust hasn’t had a problem finding tenants who work in health care.

He said they worked closely with Region of Queens officials to ensure they complied with all bylaws. He also said they could look at relocating the garbage enclosure to another part of the property.

“We had to go through and check all of the boxes based on the bylaws, working with Mike (MacLeod) and his team to ensure that everything meets all those requirements with respect to, for example, garbage and parking, for meeting the absolute minimum and where we can, go further and beyond to those requirements.”

Mike McLeod, the region’s director of land use, told councillors that the Housing Trust’s proposal meets all municipal requirements.

Councillors voted unanimously to deny the residents’ appeal.

After the meeting, Bjerke and other residents said the municipality’s appeal process was rushed and excluded some adjacent property owners.

“The engineer himself said they worked on this for over a year now and we got two weeks to appeal something that affects our lives and everybody in the neighbourhood,” Bjerke said in an interview.

“I find that unacceptable.”

Dina Dexter of Liverpool was at the meeting to speak on behalf of her father and brother who live next door to Bjerke. Their backyard also borders the lot where the new building will be.

She said her family didn’t receive a notice that they could appeal, and when she asked municipal officials about it she was told the appeal period was over. Then she was given the wrong date for the hearing. On Tuesday, she wasn’t given a chance to speak.

“And if it wasn’t for my neighbours telling me about this we would not have even known,” Dexter told QCCR. “There’s no posting of a sign. There’s nothing.

“We desperately, desperately want more housing, but in a place like Liverpool, Nova Scotia, where there is so much space. There’s been a derelict abandoned piece of land since the Canadian Tire burnt down in the ’90s on Main Street. Why is it that (this building) is being placed in such a bizarre manner in essentially a backyard lot?”

Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton told QCCR that she understands the residents’ frustration but that the region fulfilled its obligations under the Municipal Government Act.

She said if residents encounter any problems with the development, they can report those to the region’s bylaw enforcement officer.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The South Shore Open Doors Association will receive $25,000 in provincial funding to help those who are housing insecure.

The South Shore Open Doors Association will receive $25,000 from the Nova Scotia government to help people in Queens and Lunenburg counties in precarious housing situations.

It’s part of a total of $500,000 in one-time funding announced this week for community groups across the province.  

“Our government continues to invest in initiatives that support vulnerable Nova Scotians,” Queens MLA Kim Masland said in a news release.

“This funding is another step in assisting our residents who require safe and affordable housing.”

The money will be used to assist with costs such as rental arrears, overdue power bills and other expenses that could affect someone’s ability to get or maintain housing, according to the release. 

People will also be directed to other supports and services to help in the long term.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says new public housing announced for Liverpool is ‘desperately needed’. (Rick Conrad / File)

Liverpool is getting new public housing in the next 12 months, the Nova Scotia government announced Wednesday.

An eightplex is planned for land next to 183 and 185 Old Port Mouton Rd. The building will be modular housing, divided into eight separate residences.

John Lohr, Nova Scotia’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, said in a news release Wednesday that it’s part of 26 new modular housing units being built in the next 12 months in Shelburne, Digby, Wedgeport and Liverpool.

Lohr said it will provide affordable housing for up to 82 people. He said the province is going with modular housing to get the units built as quickly as possible.

The new housing is a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with 14 ground-floor units that will be barrier-free.

The units will be affordable, with rents tied to income. 

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman said in an interview Wednesday that she’s happy to see the province is building more public housing in Liverpool.

“I think it’s excellent. It is desperately needed throughout the entire province, so, pleased to see that the province is now looking at (the) western (end of the province) and that we will be getting one eightplex.”

Norman said provincial officials told her on Tuesday that 77 people are currently waiting for public housing in the Liverpool area.

 “It will move quickly and (be) a much needed relief,” she said. “I know people have been impatient as the government has been announcing units in other areas, bu they’ve been going zone by zone and now we’re in the western zone.

“So they’re basically already designed. They’re very nice. They’re four units on the bottom, and the four bottom units will be totally accessible and there are four units on the top.” 

The province is investing $11.8 million to build the 26 units in the four communities. That’s in addition to the 247 units previously announced, bringing the total to 273.

The Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency will issue a tender for a design and construction team to deliver the homes.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Kim Masland, Queens MLA and Nova Scotia’s public works minister, announces $10.7 million in provincial funding for a $21.5-million water and sewer expansion that gives the green light to two new housing developments in the Liverpool area. (Rick Conrad)

The Nova Scotia government and the Region of Queens are teaming up on a $21.5-million project to extend and improve water and sewer services in the Liverpool area.

Queens MLA Kim Masland on Monday announced $10.7 million in provincial funding to expand water and wastewater service to the Mount Pleasant area. The region will pitch in $10.8 million. 

The project means that two new private housing developments will go ahead on more than 60 acres of land. About 325 new housing units will be built for up to 1,200 people. It will be a mix of sold and rented space. About a third of those units could be affordable housing.

Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s public works minister, made the announcement at the region’s municipal offices in Liverpool on behalf of John Lohr, the minister of municipal affairs and housing. 

“We need this funding, we know our community’s growing, we certainly need affordable and more housing stock within our community,” she said in an interview after the announcement.

“We’re attracting people to our community every day, there are med professionals that want to come here. This is a great project. This will allow us to build more houses.”

Masland said a municipal housing needs assessment found that Queens County needs 555 more housing units by the end of 2027. She said it’s difficult to recruit health care staff to move to the area if there’s nowhere to live.

“We need people building faster. We need homes up, we need places for people to live. We are in a housing crisis in the province and we’re going to do whatever we can to make sure we can help.”

The funding will also improve existing water and sewer services to more than 1,200 homes and businesses in the area, and help improve the amount of water available for firefighting efforts.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman emphasized that the funding will do more than help developers build new homes.

She said the current infrastructure is at or over capacity. The project will improve service for residents in Liverpool, Brooklyn and Milton.

“There are some really crucial repairs that need to be made to our system, so it can expand in all directions. This is not case-specific for specific people.”

The provincial portion of the funding comes from the $102-million Municipal Capital Growth Program. The region applied in December for the funding.

Norman said the region’s finance staff are working now to figure out how the municipal portion will be funded. The region is currently working on its 2024/25 budget.

Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works, said Monday he hopes the work will be finished in 24 to 36 months.

“So work is already underway. Following the feasibility study, we’ve migrated into some design work preliminary and that’s underway right now, looking at having designs rolled out in the fall and construction starting in the next 12 months ideally.”

The developers behind the two housing projects said Monday they were excited by the news. They’ve lobbied the municipality for the past few years to extend water and sewer services to those areas.

Both projects are near downtown Liverpool.

Larry Cochrane plans an 87-unit development on the old Dauphinee Farm property near Queens General Hospital, which would include a 24-unit apartment building.

He said he will soon begin the design phase of the project.

“I wish it was faster of course, but we’ll take that because there’s lots of work I need to do to get ready to start a project like this.”

Graham van der Pas is a partner with Rumclo Developments. They plan a three-stage development on about 30 acres of land farther up the road from Cochrane’s project.

“We’re very, very excited. We’ve been lobbying for this for the past two years. So it’s amazing.”

The Rumclo development will feature The Point, which will have 124, two-bedroom homes for sale, The Curve, with 22 three-bedroom townhouses, and Birchwood Gardens, 82 affordable rental apartments. Van der Pas said the affordable rentals will be 80 per cent of the median market rate. A one-bedroom would be about $800 a month, a two-bedroom $1,000 and a three-bedroom would rent for $1,200.

A section of The Curve will also be reserved for staff from Queens General Hospital to rent.

“I think a community like this needs it,” van der Pas said. 

“I think what our developments will bring to the town is … a significant amount of property taxes. The revenue will go up there, the economic revenue of people potentially starting businesses, new patrons for the businesses that are already existing. It’s significant.”

Ashley Christian, president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, said she’s happy that such a big investment is being made in Queens.

“We have been advocating through the chamber of commerce for more housing for a couple of years. So we’re so excited to see this huge investment, especially made by the municipality, really impressed by that.”

Christian said she’s especially happy that half the funding is coming from the province. She said she hopes that means the project won’t be a big burden on municipal taxpayers.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Dartmouth on Tuesday to announce more than $6 billion in funding for housing initiatives. Sean Fraser, minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, is in the background. (CPAC)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled more funding on Tuesday for affordable housing across the country.

Trudeau was in Dartmouth to announce the federal government will include more than $6 billion in the April 16 budget for housing initiatives.

The Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund would help speed up construction or upgrade needed infrastructure to build more homes for Canadians.

“If we want build more homes faster, we also need to be upgrading critical water and wastewater infrastructure. … We’ll launch the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund with a billion dollars available to be allocated in the short term for municipalities to support needs that will directly create more housing, and $5 billion for agreements with provinces and territories to support investments in long-term priorities paired with key provincial and territorial actions to boost housing supply.”

The $5 billion would go to provinces over a longer period. Federal and provincial officials would have to negotiate the terms for that funding.

According to The Canadian Press, provinces and territories would have to agree to a set of conditions, including a renters’ bill of rights. The deadline for provinces to reach a deal with Ottawa would be Jan. 1, 2025.

And provinces would have to freeze development charges for three years. They would also have to adopt changes to the national building code and automatically approve homes that follow designs from the federal government’s housing design catalogue.

Trudeau said the government also plans to add another $400 million to the Housing Accelerator Fund to help make it easier at the municipal level to build more housing.

A rendering of the Queens Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing development planned for Liverpool. (QNCH)

An affordable housing development for Liverpool could break ground by this fall.

Queens Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing is planning a 26-unit development off Lawrence Street that will include one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units in two separate buildings.

It’s passive design, net zero-ready housing that will welcome tenants from all income groups.

The group was formed as a result of consultations by the Queens Care Society, which identified transportation and housing as vital for Queens County’s older population.

The Region of Queens sold the land to the group for $1 and rezoned the area. It also committed $203,000 toward the project. 

Initially, the group expected to start construction this spring. But now they hope to break ground later this year.

Earl Mielke, with Inclusive Homes Consulting, has been working with the Queens Neighbourhood Co-operative Housing board. He said Monday that there have been some delays in the initial work on design and preparation. 

But he said they’re at the final stages of the design, and are working now with a cost consultant, before they make funding requests to the province and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. CMHC requires groups to use a cost consultant because it wants a good idea of the final project cost.

“We hope to have our funding in place and a contractor hired, realistically late fall. Early fall, late fall, it all depends on how quickly the funders turn the funding over. And the availability of contracts is a big factor.

“Realistically, we really hope to get something started there by the end of this year.”

He said the group expects the whole project to be in the $6-$7-million range, though that could change as the project progresses.

“A lot of it will depend on the funders. But what we’re getting from the feds and the province, they’re really anxious to get some wins for affordable housing. The initial discussions we’ve had are very positive. We’re seen as one of the more shovel-ready on this scale. Things are going well.”

Mielke said rent for the units will be based on a mixed-income approach. Rents will be at or below the median market rate. 

He said that could mean the highest rent would be about $1,200 a month. But he cautioned that that could change depending on final construction costs.  

“A mix of incomes, the rents are all basically the same across the board. It’s just a matter of what types of rent supplement or income testing assistance will be available. And a lot of that is negotiated with the province.

“If you have a single pensioner on old age pension, they can’t afford $1,200 a month. So there will be units that will be designated for people on lesser incomes.”

Mielke says this is just the first of what the group hopes will be more affordable housing developments in other areas of Queens. 

“The intent is do this one, do it really well and then move into another neighbourhood. Initially, it was like 100 units over three years. Now it’s more like 100 units over three to five years. … We’re just looking at ways to … get more affordable housing.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr, left, and Halifax MP Andy Fillmore announce $83 million to create 222 new public housing units at One Government Place, Halifax, September 27. Photo Communications Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is building the first public housing in the province in decades.

Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr and Member of Parliament for Halifax, Andy Fillmore, announced Wednesday, $83 million will be used to build 222 new public housing units, 80 of which will be fully barrier-free.

These developments are expected to benefit 522 families, individuals, and low-income seniors across both rural and urban communities in Nova Scotia.

The new housing will be built on provincially owned land close to existing public housing developments in several locations, including Bridgewater, Kentville, Truro, Cape Breton (multiple locations), and the Halifax Regional Municipality (multiple locations).

The buildings will be designed to be energy-efficient, sustainable, and affordable for residents. Importantly, rents for these units will be tied to the resident’s ability to pay. Gearing the rent towards income, will make the units accessible to individuals and families with varying financial means. The new units will be operated and managed by the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency.

The funding breakdown for the project includes $58.8 million from the provincial government and an additional $24.4 million from the federal government.

The PC government has long held government shouldn’t be involved in public housing, instead they should provide the means for private developers to create affordable units.

Minister John Lohr said government began shifting their thinking over the summer.“If you look back to my more recent quotes I was softening that position because I realized that this was something that we had been working on as a department over the summer to look at this possibility. And I can tell you that the, what did change, was we do have an agreement and the money from CMHC, the federal partner, $24 million to build 80 accessible barrier free units,” said Lohr. “The way that we were doing that was we were going into 40-year-old buildings and renovating them and my staff pointed out that this was a pretty inefficient way of doing it”

Lohr says the renovated older unit would be tied up for a year during construction and in the end didn’t always result in the best accessible living space.

It was at that point the department decided to build 80 new accessible units and fund the creation of the 222 affordable spaces.

Andy Fillmore, Member of Parliament for Halifax, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the importance of federal-provincial collaboration. He says the solution to the housing crisis won’t come from one level of government or from one organization.

“It has to come from every single person who is involved in every single organization and order of government who is involved in in housing. We all own a piece of it and we all have our own jurisdictional boundaries we need to observe,” said Fillmore. “We are working hard to play within our lines, work with provinces to change some of those lines where we need to, to provide more capital and get more units built”

Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender was in Bridgewater discussing affordable housing prior to this announcement.

She was direct when asked what she hoped to hear from the province and federal government.

“I would expect to see the creation of a significant number of truly affordable housing units across Nova Scotia. That’s what I’m looking for,” said Chender. “And I would further expect that the province comes to the table with significant investment of their own to make that happen because so far the vast majority of the affordable housing units that have been built in Nova Scotia in the past five years have been built with federal dollars and I think it’s time for the province to also take the role that really, they have by legislation and in our constitution”

Chender says the new units are a start but fall far short of meeting the demand for affordable housing across Nova Scotia.

Minister Lohr says construction of the first new units is set to begin in spring 2024 with a goal to have people moving in during fiscal 2024/25.

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Future site of proposed Co-op housing along Trestle Trail. Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens Council voted in favour of rezoning for 26 units of affordable housing in Liverpool.

In November, Council approved selling four adjoining lots between Lawrence and Amherst streets and Trestle Trail and the Queens Street Extension to Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd, an offshoot of the Queens Care Society group for one dollar.

The area is currently zoned for Lower Density Residential and needs to be redesignated for Multiple Unit Residential to accommodate the two proposed buildings.

The municipality’s Planning Advisory Committee approved the proposed development at their June 19 meeting. Council approved the rezoning at Tuesday’s council meeting following a public hearing where no one spoke for or against the proposed development.

If the rezoning is upheld a public notice will be issued Aug 16 and the four parcels will be rezoned Multiple Unit Residential effective Aug 31.

Mayor Darlene Norman says council wants to do everything it can to get this project of the ground as everyone is aware of the desperate need for more housing.

“We’re a year and a half in already from the time we first started talking about council selling the land,” said Norman. “Because then you have to go through the public hearing of selling it for a dollar and all other such things, and then the deeds, and then the rezoning, so we’re going through this as quickly as we can.”

At an expected cost of $6 million, the development will require funding from several sources and the cooperation of different levels of governments and other agencies.

The municipality has already committed $203,000 in the 2023-24 budget for the group to complete predevelopment work on the site including project management and engineering fees, architectural drawings costs and a landscape architect as well as initial site clearing, road access excavation and digging test pits.

Norman says the Region will continue to assist the Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd.

“It’s their project so we’re not sticking our nose in it, but everything they need, every help they want, they come see us,” said Norman.

The new development will focus on seniors but aims to be inclusive and diverse.

As a co-op, the units will be owned by members who will form a democratically elected board of directors to make decisions about maintenance or improvements of their units. In the co-op model, members will not build equity in their unit like a private homeowner. Instead that equity will be used to build more units and pay off the development over a longer mortgage period, between 40 and 50 years, keeping the units affordable.
As one occupant leaves, the next occupant won’t be faced with a massive increase in housing costs.

The board of the Queens Neighbourhood Cooperative Housing Ltd. is working to break ground on the new development in early spring of 2024.

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Rumclo Developments Ltd proposed Birchwood Gardens and The Curve communities. Photo from Rumclo Developments Ltd, Region of Queens Agenda package

A new affordable housing development in Liverpool hinges on whether the municipality is ready to extend water and sewer services along Shore Rd.

Rumclo Development Ltd is proposing to build 92 units of affordable housing between Shore Rd and College St in a community they’re calling Birchwood Gardens.

The apartments will be a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms ranging from 650ft² to 1,000ft².

Rent is projected to range between $696 and $1,200/month, depending on construction costs.

During their presentation at the most recent Region of Queens Council meeting on June 13, Rumclo officials expressed frustration that they have yet to see a study that will determine if municipal water and sewer can be extended.

Rumclo has requested the service extension for another development they’re proposing further along Shore Rd called “The Point”.

The presentation also included a development called “The Curve” which would sit adjacent to Birchwood Gardens affordable housing project.

The Curve will see 22 two and three bedroom 1,500ft² townhouses built that would sell between $400,000 and $500,000 and rent at approximately $2,000/month.

They developers argue the new proposed developments can piggyback off the same lines that will service “The Point”.

Rumclo developer Chad Clothier says they’ve already lost this building season and are eager to learn if they will have the water and sewer extensions so they can plan to build in 2024.

“Ask the Region why the study isn’t coming back or what the hold up to the study is and it really makes it hard as a company to feel like we can get this project done if a simple study is taking this long to come back,” said Clothier. “So, we’d really like to get some insight on the study.”

Region of Queens Interim CAO Dan McDougall was sympathetic to the developer’s time pressures but explained determining if the municipality can extend those services is not a simple matter.

“It’s actually far more complex than just extensions,” said McDougall. “Extensions are one element of what we’ll likely receive back from the consultants. They’ll also provide insight on how the system needs to be improved in order to accept volumes, both water and wastewater.”

McDougall says the existing wastewater treatment plant has the capacity to handle the increased number of users but getting the flow to the plant will require significant upgrades to the underground infrastructure.

The CAO says the study is also looking at how providing municipal water to the developments will affect the existing system.

“You can get water to the lands that you’re proposing to develop but what are the implications on the rest of the system?” asked McDougall. “Will it result in negative water pressure in other areas of the municipality where improvements are required in order for the extensions to work for your project, but to work for the rest of the community as well.  So, it’s not a simple study.”

McDougall expects the final engineering report to come to staff and council for review in the next few weeks.

It will then be a month or two before it will be presented to council for a decision whether the project will go ahead.

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SSODA Housing info poster courtesy Krista Miller

An organization helping people find and keep housing has opened its doors in Queens.

South Shore Open Doors Association launched in Lunenburg County in 2021 and expanded to Queens in October with the hiring of housing support worker Krista Miller.

Miller has lived in Queens all her life and says people can come to SSODA to learn what supports are available to them and how to get that help.

“We would help access all of the local, provincial, federal resources that are around that can help out with housing insecurity. We reach out to some churches, Lions Club, Salvation Army, just other organisations to see if they’d be willing to partner with us to help folks,” said Miller. “We also are able to help ourselves in times of need so people would just have to call and do an intake with us. Once we can see what their needs are we can go from there and see if we are able to help them”

South Shore Open Doors Association is part of network of organizations using the online Homeless Individuals and Families Information System, or HIFIS.

HIFIS allows member organizations to quickly find resources for their clients that are offered from within the group.

Since starting in October, Miller has been working to gain a clearer picture of the housing needs in Queens.

Early results of an online survey she is conducting show 31 percent of respondents are between 45-54 years of age and come from across Queens County. Most people are renting their home, 85.7 percent consider themselves at risk of homelessness and 63 percent live in energy poverty.

Miller will continue running the survey until the new year and you can link to the survey here.

She is also hosting a series of housing clinics with the next two sessions set for Nov 29 at Queens Place and Nov 30 at the North Queens Hub.

Miller plans to continue to offer the workshops on a regular basis, alternating between the two locations.

She says it’s a great opportunity for people to start the process of getting the support they need.

“There will be lots of information on low-income housing options. I have subsidy forms to fill out if anyone would like to fill out for rent subsidy. We can do an intake for SSODA while they’re there so they can have a housing support worker, look for apartments for them and just sort of system with the process of finding or keeping their housing,” said Miller. “Lots of resources like property tax exemption forms for Queens, just lots of forms, the heat rebate all that kind of stuff I have on file that I take copies of with me. And then, again, the B and L funding list and the HIFIS referrals as soon as I do an intake with somebody I put their information right into that”

More information on the Queens branch of SSODA can be found on their Facebook page.

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Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Garika Park. Photo: Google Maps

A new 15 unit housing development is being planned for Milton.

At their last meeting, Region of Queens council agreed to sell the former Garika Park lands to developer Eric Fry.

Fry says the new development will be geared towards seniors.

“It’s right at the little waterfall, that dam, so it’s just a gorgeous location. We think it will be a big seller,” said Fry. “My whole background is sales and business development, so we’ll put a package together that I think will be really appealing to a lot of locals and maybe even draw some people in from out of town to help drive the economy a little bit.”

Eric Fry, contributed by Eric Fry

Fry says this is not an affordable housing project with rent expected to land in the range of $1,700 to $1,800 per month.

He anticipates seniors looking downsize from a family home into something smaller and more manageable will be very interested in the development.

“Those folks that are in the local area whether it be Milton or Liverpool that own their homes and they just don’t really have anywhere to go, they don’t want to go all the way to Bridgewater,” said Fry. “They want a place to settle into but a nice, two-bedroom, well-appointed place.”

Fry hasn’t ruled out the possibility of building affordable housing in the future.

He has some experience buying and selling development property in Queens and has enlisted the services of local designer Brydon Huntley to plan the proposed seniors development.

Fry is looking to build 15 1,100 – 1,200 square foot units on the 36,000 square foot location.

Before any work can begin, the property needs to be rezoned and accommodations must be made for a boat launch and fire hydrant on the site.

If all goes well, Fry is hopeful to begin construction in Spring of 2023.

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COVID-19 has spurred home sales in Queens. Photo: Ed Halverson

New taxes targeting non-resident homeowners won’t address the affordable housing issue according to a local realtor.

Measures announced in last week’s provincial budget will impose a five percent deed transfer tax on the sale price of a home and a provincial tax of $2 per $100 of a home’s assessed value for anyone from outside the province purchasing a house in Nova Scotia.

Kristopher Snarby, managing associate broker with Exit Interlake Realty says everyone knows a lack of available housing has caused prices in the purchase and rental markets to soar but taxing buyers from outside the province won’t solve the issue.

“These new rules are only applying to people who don’t live here full time,” said Snarby. “For example, for me in the past year, I’ve dealt with a lot of Ontario buyers and Western Canadian buyers but they’re all moving here full time so nothing’s going to change on that front.”

Kristopher Snarby, managing associate broker EXIT Interlake
Realty in Liverpool/Bridgewater. Photo submitted by Kristopher Snarby

Another issue Snarby sees is the homes that would be subject to the tax aren’t generally in the price range for first-time homebuyers.

“It’s not the bread and butter. It’s not the $100,000 homes or the $200,000 homes. Probably a lot of them are oceanfront, lakefront, really high-end homes that are in the half million to a million-dollar range, and in Halifax even more, maybe. So, that’s the other part of the puzzle is that it’s not really the houses that the general public can afford.”

Snarby says many of the non-resident homeowners have come to the area year after year, supporting local businesses and services and have become part of the fabric of the community.

“My fear is we’re upsetting a lot of people who have contributed a lot to the province over the years and kind of slamming the door in their face saying, hey, you’re not welcome here anymore,” said Snarby.

Province says measuring effect of taxes will take years

Finance Minister Allan MacMaster says taxing non-residents will make more housing available in Nova Scotia because it attacks the problem on a couple of fronts.

First, the tax will raise money that government can put into affordable housing and second, it should cool demand for houses from buyers outside the province.

“It’s an inexact science. I will not come on and make claims that this will solve everything, these taxes will solve everything. But we do believe that they will have some impact and over the next two years we’ll be building a database,” said MacMaster. “We’ll know just how much we’ll be raising in terms of revenue, and we’ll know just how much of an impact these taxes will have on the housing market and whether or not they do, in fact, increase supply for Nova Scotians.”

Despite announcing the taxes to tackle the housing crisis, MacMaster says money collected won’t be set aside, instead, it will go into the provincial government’s general revenue.

“We haven’t collected a cent of these taxes to date, but we’ve already spent money last fall. We ear-marked $35 million for affordable housing, we added another $15 million in the budget that was introduced a week or so ago,” said MacMaster. “We’re taking in money and there’s money going out the door all the time and practically speaking, sometimes it’s difficult to just say, okay, we’re going to use these funds for a certain purpose.”

MacMaster says government will continue to look for ways to help Nova Scotians into homes but is definite on one thing.

“We need more housing. Whether it’s government purchased and managed housing, whether it’s co-operative housing or whether it’s private sector.”

MacMaster acknowledges building up the housing stock will take time and in the interim, government will make more rent supplements available to get people into rental units that may be outside their budget.

The new tax measures went into effect April 1.

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Photo Ed Halverson

A community group in Queens has secured $40,000 in provincial funding to work on increasing the supply of affordable housing for seniors.

The Queens Care Society received a grant from the province’s $916,000 Community Housing Capacity Building Program.

Society member Susan MacLeod says the group will use the money to hire an experienced coordinator who will have several responsibilities.

“Dealing with potential developers, working with other government levels that support housing, working with other funding agencies to acquire monies when the build is to be done,” said MacLeod.

The group is exploring options but MacLeod says they’re interested in developing an affordable co-op housing model where tenants can buy-in.

“Sometimes if you own your own home or you have a mortgage that is available for the home then you’re more apt to take a bit more interest in things.”

The Queens Care Society is a small group of 15 people operating out of the Queens County Home Support board room.

Covering all of Queens County, the members are supported by the senior safety officer and affiliations with other community organizations dealing with seniors care.

MacLeod says as a group they work to identify issues, find solutions, and get them up and running before leaving them to run independently.

She says Queens County Transit was an idea that came out of the society and now operates on its own.

MacLeod says the group will tackle the housing issue in the same way.

After hiring their project coordinator, MacLeod says their next steps will be to form a new non-profit housing side to their society.

They’re looking for board members with financial experience, landlords and developers who can find ways to build more seniors housing.

MacLeod says the group will also ask the municipal and provincial governments to make land available for an affordable housing build.

She says her group is drawing on all their collective skills and experience to make affordable seniors housing a reality in Queens.

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Finance Minister Allan MacMaster stands to present the 2022-23 budget in the Nova Scotia Legislature March 29, 2022. Photo Communications Nova Scotia

An additional $413 million in health care spending will help push the provincial deficit to $506 million this year.

The first full budget released by the PCs since winning government last August focused on delivering on some of the promises made during that campaign.

The top priority identified in Tuesday’s budget is addressing the province’s ailing healthcare system.

Nova Scotia will spend $5.7 billion on health care this year, which accounts for 43 percent of the total $13.2 billion budget

Some of that money will make virtual care available to people waiting for a family doctor, extend operating room times to help clear a backlog of surgeries, create 200 new nursing seats at NSCC, and help recruits new medical professionals to the province.

Nova Scotia is also spending to improve long-term care.

Government has allocated $66 million for continuing care assistants to ensure they are the highest paid in Atlantic Canada.

Money is also being spent to recruit train and keep CCAs and keep seniors in their own homes longer.

A lack of housing has been identified as a major issue in Nova Scotia.

Government is attempting to keep housing stock in the hands of Nova Scotians with the addition of a five percent deed transfer tax for non-residents and a property tax of $2 per $100 of assessed value on buildings with three or less units owned by non-residents.

Finance Minister Allan MacMaster says the new measures accomplish a couple of goals.

“It will be a significant revenue generator and it’s going to take us as a couple of years to build a proper database to determine who actually is non-resident. We certainly have sources of information, but a database will be built over a couple of years,” said MacMaster. “For some it may result in properties becoming available to Nova Scotians who are struggling to find them right now.”

MacMaster says government is investing in Nova Scotia now but don’t expect to see a pattern of unchecked spending.

“This first budget, our focus is on fixing healthcare and our focus is investment in a province that’s growing,” said MacMaster. “In the future, I think what I would say to people who might be concerned about the degree of spending in this budget is that we are showing a track back towards reduced deficits going forward.”

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Queens MLA Kim Masland. Photo Ed Halverson

The MLA for Queens sat down with reporter Ed Halverson just before Christmas to discuss a busy 2021.

Kim Masland was re-elected and moved to the government side of the legislature when the PC’s won a majority, was appointed Minister of Public Works and government house leader shortly afterwards and contracted COVID-19 .

The interview is broken into four parts.

In part one, Masland discusses the quick learning curve when forming government.

Another challenge for Masland was contracting COVID, discussed in the second part of the interview.

Healthcare and long term care were hot button topics on the doorstep during the election campaign. The PCs promised to fix the system and Masland describes how her party is working to do so.

The interview wraps up with issues Masland is working to address in Queens including resolving long-standing concerns at Carter’s Beach and the affordable housing crisis.

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NDP leader Gary Burrill and candidate for Queens Mary Dahr in Liverpool August 2. Photo Ed Halverson

The leader of the Nova Scotia NDP Gary Burrill was in Queens Monday bringing a promise of affordable housing.

Burrill says the issue comes up repeatedly as local candidate Mary Dahr meets people on their doorstep.

“They hear over and over and over from people about the real serious problem of the availability of a place to live, about the numbers of people that are living in out buildings and are living in tents on the South Shore because of this unavailability,” said Burrill.

Dahr says rental options are particularly dire.

“I went to somebody’s house the other night, they were paying $800 and it was such a bad place,” said Dahr. “They have to hold on to that because there’s nothing else.”

Burrill says if NDP wins the election ensuring all Nova Scotians can access housing will be a core priority.

“We are committed to institute permanent rent control within a month of being sworn in as government, if we are able to form government in the election,” said Burrill.

The NDP leader says his is the only one of the three major parties who are on board with rent controls.

“Our view is, that a majority of Canadians, today, live in jurisdictions where they have protection from sudden, dramatic, unsubstantiated rent increases and people of Nova Scotia should have it too.”

Burrill suggests tying annual rent increases to the Consumer Price Index.

The PCs and Liberals argue the only way to provide more affordable housing is to increase the amount of available units and should be done, for the most part, by private sector developers.

Burrill agrees more housing stock needs to open up and there is a role for government in that process.

He says the Liberals have largely abdicated their responsibility to provide social housing by open fewer than 200 new units over eight years in power.

“We are committed, in the NDP, to doing much better than that,” said Burrill. “To getting the government back into the housing business in the way that it used to be, particularly with the opening up of options in co-op housing, various kinds of non-profit housing, social housing.”

Burrill also sees the need to provide stricter regulations on short-term housing rentals, like AirBnb, to ensure more of those units will be available to people wanting to live full-time in their communities.

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