August 12, 2021
Burrill not telling the truth about rental housing across Canada
NDP Leader Gary Burrill is not telling the truth about the impact of rent control across Canada, said Kevin Russell, executive director of the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS).
Statistics Canada shows that over the last 20 years, rents have increased at a higher level in jurisdictions that have rent control – Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island – than in Nova Scotia.
According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, less than 10 per cent of new construction in rent-controlled Toronto and Ottawa has gone to rental housing units over the last 20 years. Meanwhile, in Halifax, over the same period, more than half of new construction has gone into rental housing. In 2020 alone, more than 63 per cent of new construction in Halifax went into rental housing units.
“The data is clear on rent control – higher rents for tenants and very little construction of rental units,” said Russell. “At a time when we need more construction of rental units to help Nova Scotians, the evidence shows that rent control is a rental construction killer. It’s time that all the players in delivering housing for Nova Scotians come together after the election and implement a real evidence-based plan for affordable housing for Nova Scotians.”
IPOANS members were sent the survey results from the three political parties to questions on housing posed by the association. They are available at www.ipoans.ca.
“IPOANS members work hard to deliver housing for Nova Scotians. Many of our members have been affected by a regulatory framework that needs a significant overhaul for both landlords and tenants, as well as rent control that singles out over 97 per cent of revenue for apartment owners to provide housing, while we get no help on costs that go up and up and up,” said Russell. “We remain committed to working with everyone in the housing sector to implement an evidence-based plan that will work.”