Despite outcry from opposition, N.S. Tories resist tenancy enforcement unit

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s opposition parties say they can’t understand why the government insists the province doesn’t need an enforcement unit to help settle disputes between landlords and tenants.

The parties’ reactions come after the government released a $300,000 report earlier this week that laid out how such a unit would work.

Halifax firm Davis Pier Consulting was mandated by the government in 2022 to study how an enforcement unit could manage disputes more efficiently, and the company delivered its report more than a year ago.

Colton LeBlanc, minister of Service Nova Scotia, said that upon reviewing the report the government decided such an enforcement unit would result in more red tape and longer dispute resolution times for both landlords and tenants.

“We took that report, we looked at other jurisdictions that have a compliance enforcement unit … we determined those outcomes would not be desired for Nova Scotians,” LeBlanc said during question period Thursday.

Currently, enforcement of rulings from tenancy hearings is preformed through the province’s sheriff services.

Opposition Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said in an interview it’s baffling the province is not proceeding with an enforcement unit that both tenants and landlords have called for.

“There’s obvious reasons why this is important. We’ve got near zero vacancy rates. We’ve got a premier that’s doubling the population when we don’t have enough houses. Housing disputes are on the rise between tenants and landlords. We’re seeing record numbers of evictions,” Churchill said, adding the report seemed to indicate that such units would offer increased protections to both rental parties.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said she finds it “stunning” that about a year ago the province appeared to be moving forward with tenancy enforcement only to decide to scrap the plan. A compliance unit could help protect renters from landlords who are behaving illegally, she added.

“Our question now is who’s in the premier’s ear telling him not to do this? How did this change? Because it remains clear that both tenants and landlord organizations want this enforcement unit,” Chender said, speaking at a housing rally in Halifax Thursday morning.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press