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.
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.
Region of Queens administration building. Photo Ed Halverson
Region of Queens council packed a light agenda as they took their meeting on the road this week.
Residents took the opportunity to ask questions of council during the public comment and question portion of the meeting held in the Seaside Centre. The first was a request to repave or repair a section of School St. in Milton prior to the winter of 2023. The second was to ask if council were aware of a home being built on eagle head placing large rocks to prevent the ocean overflowing their property.
Mayor Darlene Norman says School St. is maintained jointly by the province and the municipality and any work would have to go out to tender. She says the province has already allocated their shared road repair budget for this year and it would be unlikely a tender would come back in time to complete the work before this winter.
Regarding the large rocks being placed on the eagle head property Norman says that responsibility also falls to the province.
The lone recommendation was a request to approve fixed roof overnight accommodation in south Brookfield. The petitioners Jasmine and Matthew Mallay want to build a collection of cottage rentals on 19 acres of property which requires a development agreement between the owners and the municipality.
The property is close to Cameron’s Brook provincial day park and Norman expects a development like this in a remote area would be welcome.
“People need to get out in nature,” said Norman. “Everybody’s not camper, everybody doesn’t go to provincial parks or national parks. Some people just like to get out in nature and have the comfort of a fixed roof and a bed.”
Council approved the development agreement and schedule a public hearing for November 28th in council chambers for residents to weigh in.
Next council discussed appointments to the planning advisory committee. Three member’s terms expired and all three wished to remain on PAC. Council reappointed the committee members but directed staff to examine the policy to determine if longer terms or term limits would be appropriate.
Finally, council discussed sending a letter of support to Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr for a bill currently working its way through the legislature which updates interactions between the province and municipalities across Nova Scotia.
Norman says the new deal would put $400,000 back in the Region of Queens coffers representing four cents on the tax rate.
The next Region of Queens council meeting is scheduled for November 14th at 9:00 AM in council chambers.
To hear the full interview with Mayor Norman click play below.
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.
To hear the broadcast of this story click play below.
Bob Robichaud, Meteorologist, Environment and Climate Change Canada. Screen capture from Communications Nova Scotia Zoom conference Aug 24, 2023
The province is warning Nova Scotians now is the time to prepare for an active hurricane season.
Officials from Environment Canada, Nova Scotia Power, the Red Cross and the province’s Emergency Management Office gathered together Thursday to announce an information campaign designed to inform Nova Scotians on how to ready themselves for the upcoming season.
Meteorologist Bob Robichaud says the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting 14 to 21 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes and two to five major hurricanes before the end of the year.
Robichaud says those numbers are higher than initially predicted in May and include storm activity across the entire Atlantic Ocean.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that a lot of those storms will approach Atlantic Canada or have any kind of impact on Nova Scotia but we always have to be ready for that one or two storms that might impact us,” said Robichaud.
As an example, Robichaud pointed to Hurricane Fiona and the damage it caused in September of 2022.
Robichaud was asked about Hurricane Franklin and says it is currently about 1,200km southwest of Bermuda, tracking northeast. It’s expected to reach category 2 status as it moves north over the weekend.
As of Thursday, modelling shows the hurricane will track south of Nova Scotia but Robichaud says even if it does turn towards the province it won’t be anywhere close to the power of Fiona.
He encourages people to follow trusted weather forecasting sites to get information about impending storms.
Operations Manager with the Canadian Red Cross of Nova Scotia, Ancel Langille says it’s important for families to have an emergency plan and kit ready ahead of storm season.
“Your kit should include things that will make a stay away from home more comfortable for you and your family,” said Langille. “Things like clothing, medications, if you have children some toys and games, if you have pets prepare a kit for them as well with the leash, some food, water, medications for them, a pet carrier [is] something great to have on hand. If you have a vehicle, make sure it’s full of gas before the storm arrives and it’s always great to have some cash on hand.”
Langille added if there is time, it’s a good idea to take photos or videos of the rooms of your house before you need to evacuate so you have a record to provide to your insurance company.
John Lohr, the minister responsible for emergency management in Nova Scotia says the province works closely with municipalities through the provincial control centre in times of emergency.
Lohr says the province is preparing for the upcoming Hurricane Season.
“And I would like to encourage all Nova Scotians to take some time now before a storm or weather warning is issued to our region to do the same,” said Lohr. “Before an event happens is a good time to sit down with your family and talk things over, check to see what may need to be done around your house or cottage make a plan and prepare.”
The province will be running an information campaign across social and traditional media over the next four weeks.
Updates and tips from Nova Scotia’s emergency management office are available at their website: https://novascotia.ca/Alerts
Emergency alert message sent to cell phones across NS when 9-1-1 went down
Emergency calls to 9-1-1 went answered Monday morning.
A failure occurred around 7:00am which prevented residents of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island from connecting with emergency services for roughly two hours.
The minister responsible for the Emergency Management Office John Lohr says to his knowledge this may be the first time a 9-1-1 system has ever gone down anywhere in Canada.
“Our goal is not to have a split second of disruption of the 9-1-1 services,” said Lohr. “That’s our goal and just to have two hours lost this morning is very, very shocking to us.”
Officials at the EMO centre sent a message out over the Nova Scotia emergency alert system at 8:08am.
Lohr says the time was needed to gather alternate telephone numbers and ensure those numbers were correct and working before providing them to the public.
At this point, the Minister says he is unaware of any situation where someone needed help and didn’t receive it during the two hours 9-1-1 was down.
At a press availability Monday afternoon, Minister Lohr explained the 9-1-1 system is operated separately from other cellular or landline systems and is built to a more robust and higher standard than those established by the CRTC for personal and business use.
There are multiple redundancies built into the system which are supposed to prevent any disruption to the service.
Several municipalities took it upon themselves, through their social media channels, to provide residents with a list of telephone numbers their residents could call to connect with local help.
Lohr says the provincial centre informed the municipal units about the breakdown and while the two levels of government work together during emergencies, the 9-1-1 system is a provincial responsibility, and the provincial team were focused on getting help out to all corners of Nova Scotia.
“The municipalities are incredibly important partners for us in their EMO plan and each municipality has their own EMO plan,” said Lohr. “This PCC is the provincial coordination centre, we would coordinate with the municipal emergency measures offices but as Paul Mason (Director of Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Office) has said the 9-1-1 system is overarching so that would be our responsibility.”
The 9-1-1 system is operated by Bell across the three provinces and the company is still investigating the cause of the system failure.
Lohr says he expects they will provide an update once they determine the reason for the communications blackout.
**update Feb 1: CBC is reporting Bell provided them a statement indicating the outage was the result of a software upgrade
Across Canada, regions are struggling to provide housing.
An online survey has launched to help provide more data on housing issues across Nova Scotia.
The government is working to identify current and projected housing gaps and guide future housing policy and initiatives.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr says government recognizes the entire province is experiencing the housing problem, but the needs vary from place to place.
In a release, Lohr said, “To make good policy decisions, we need to hear directly from Nova Scotians about their experiences.”
He is encouraging everyone to take a few minutes to complete the survey which will remain open until December 4.
The Department will also collect feedback from Nova Scotians this fall through a series of focus groups, interviews, workshops and stakeholder meetings.
The survey and housing needs assessment are part of recommendations made in the Affordable Housing Commission report.
Mount Hope Development Plan Map. Photo Nova Scotia Government
The province has announced more initiatives aimed at increasing the amount affordable housing in Nova Scotia.
The federal and provincial governments announced over $916,000 through the Community Housing Capacity Program.
According to a release from the province, the grants will fund governance and operations reviews, growth and development plans, create community land trusts, and other capacity building needs.
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing John Lohr says one of the ways the Community Housing Capacity Program can be used by community groups is to develop a co-op approach to housing.
“They know their communities best and we’re optimistic that this seed money will provide for more projects in the future,” said Lohr.
The minister was also in Dartmouth Monday to announce the Nova Scotia government will spend $21.8 million in a forgivable loan to subsidize 373 residences in a new 875 home development.
The agreement between the province and Clayton Developments stipulates the units must remain affordable for 20 years.
Rents in the new development could be as low as $605 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, or $788 a month for a two-bedroom, based on current Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data.
This project uses the last of the $35 million committed in the Quick Start program to create 1,100 new affordable housing units.
But Lohr says the province isn’t finished yet.
“This Mount Hope was always part of the plan for the $35 million Quick Start program. There will be more affordable housing announcements to come.”
Lohr stopped short of committing the government to building more public housing units, indicating they prefer to find development partners
“No government has added to the public housing stock in 30 years. We’re responding to the crisis,” said Lohr. “We believe that this is a very efficient use of what resources we have and we’re very pleased to be doing it this way.”
The new units are expected to be ready for occupants by fall of 2023.
The province is spending $35 million to support 1,100 new affordable housing units across Nova Scotia and immediately providing 425 new rent supplements.
Norman isn’t confident many of those new spaces will be made available outside Halifax.
“I guess it’s a step, but they really need to look; we need more senior housing, definitely, [there’s] a long-term waitlist for those,” said Norman. “We need more low-income housing through community services, we need more of those, and we just need more long-term affordable housing in rural Nova Scotia.”
Norman is also concerned about government’s decision to extend the rent cap until the end of 2023.
During the pandemic, the previous liberal government capped annual rent increases at two percent per year.
Norman understands the need to keep people in their homes but worries extending the cap another two years will put landlords in a difficult spot.
“I’m uncertain if I would want to be the owner of rental properties, especially rental properties of places that might include fuel or other things,” said Norman. “When you look at the escalation of, just a thing of paint or a new door or a new window. I think what this will do is highly decrease the apartment owner’s willingness to do any repairs whatsoever.”
Norman says she hates the thought that anyone is homeless in the Region and thinks it’s time the municipality formed partnerships to tackle the issue head-on.
“So what do we do?” asked Norman. “Do we all bound together as municipalities down here on the South Shore and sit and think, what are we going to do and take our actions to the province? Do we need to start coming up with our solutions down here? I think maybe we do.”
