HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's housing shortage is a generational challenge that must be met with effort similar to what was needed to rebuild after the Halifax explosion, says the head of the province's construction association.
Expected to be lacking 41,200 homes by 2028 鈥 and with the pressures of inflation, high interest rates and labour shortages 鈥 the province needs to take immediate action, says Duncan Williams, president and CEO of the Construction Association of Nova Scotia.
鈥淭his is a once-in-a-generation challenge. We鈥檝e had this before, we had it after the Halifax explosion," Williams said about the 1917 collision between two ships 鈥 one carrying explosives 鈥 that killed 2,000 people, injured thousands more and destroyed neighbourhoods.
"But most of the folks that were around then and would have helped plan through that, obviously, are not with us anymore."
Nova Scotia鈥檚 current housing needs, he said in a recent interview, are similar to the province鈥檚 situation after the Second World War, which resulted in a period of major urban development in Halifax that extended into the 1960s.
鈥淲e've done this before. We just need to go back and dust off some of the history for how it got done.鈥
Williams says he's looking overseas for help. Last week, he returned from a recruiting trip in London, England, where he shared job details with professionals with experience in 鈥渁nywhere from drywall, to carpentry, to finish carpentry and pretty much anything in between.鈥
He was joined by representatives from the province and the 好色tv Home Builders Association of Nova Scotia, and said they were met with a 鈥渧ery positive response.鈥 It's too early, he said, to know how many labourers might come to the province as a result of the visit, but he said the delegation had in-depth conversations about work opportunities in Nova Scotia with 300 tradespeople.
鈥淎nd now I鈥檓 helping match up some of the applicants or folks we鈥檝e had said they鈥檙e interested with some of the job openings that are available,鈥 he said.
There are between 2,000 and 3,000 construction job openings across the province, he said, adding that sustained investment from all levels of government is needed to grow the skilled trades workforce and speed up the rate of construction.
In order to make a dent in the housing deficit, the province has to build at a rate well above the recent approximate annual average of 6,000 new housing units, Williams said.
鈥淚n this year alone I think we鈥檙e on track to (build) 5,000, so we鈥檙e actually seeing the trend go in the opposite direction,鈥 he said, a drop he attributes to a shortage of available labour and the high cost of supplies. To close the gap, the province would likely need to build 16,000 new units a year to catch up and return to a 鈥渂alanced supply,鈥 he said.
The projection that Nova Scotia will be short 41,200 homes in less than five years comes from a provincial study completed by consultant Turner Drake & Partners, which estimated that in 10 years, the shortage of housing units may hit 80,400. It also found that 54 per cent of the 21,000 Nova Scotians surveyed said they had to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing; 46 per cent said they couldn鈥檛 find a place to rent in their price range.
Work needed to reverse the bleak housing projections is 鈥渄oable,鈥 Williams said.
鈥淏ut there鈥檚 a lot of things that have to line up right to make it happen.鈥
In October, Nova Scotia鈥檚 government said it would invest $1 billion over five years 鈥渢o create the conditions鈥 needed to address the housing shortage. The province also said it would spend more than $100 million over three years to speed up the recruitment and training of skilled tradespeople.
鈥淭he way we are currently training these skilled professionals can鈥檛 keep up with the level of demand,鈥 Premier Tim Houston told reporters on Oct. 20.
Mohammed El Sherif, project manager of Halifax-based construction company Savvy Homes Construction Ltd. said in a recent interview that next to challenges with labour, the rising costs of all aspects of home building is a top concern.
Statistics Canada data from July to September 2023 found that residential construction costs were up by 8.4 per cent in Halifax compared to the same quarter last year 鈥 the second highest year-over-year increase of the 11 major cities surveyed, next to Toronto.
鈥淭he price of material and land has had a major impact 鈥 and the construction insurance is also getting expensive. Those rising costs are reflected in the price of housing, he said, adding that they also limit the number of projects the company takes on.
鈥淪ometimes we find the land, but then we do our math and if it鈥檚 going to get too expensive by the time we finish constructing the house, then it鈥檚 less appealing to a buyer,鈥 making the project unviable, he said.
This report by 好色tvwas first published Nov. 28, 2023.
