Nova Scotia has extended its development fee freeze in Halifax Regional Municipality, and some councillors say they’re concerned about where to find money for infrastructure upgrades.
The province made the announcement Thursday morning and said it was to ensure affordability.
“It’s not a full freeze, it’s not an unlock either, but this is going to allow developers to plan and know what it’s going to (be),” said the province’s Municipal Affairs Minister John A. MacDonald.
“Which means people who are buying those houses, renting those apartments, actually have an idea of what the rents are going to be like,”
The extension lasts until 2029 and includes all development-related fees for the municipality and Halifax Water.
The freeze has been in place since 2023 and MacDonald said it’s being extended to meet federal funding requirements.
“I’m not going to give up $366 million of federal money. And the federal government has made it clear this has to be (part of the deal),” he said.
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But regional councillors say the move impedes HRM’s ability to properly fund infrastructure and growth, especially given the fact the municipality has some of the lowest fees in the country already, according to a staff report.
Councillors told Global News they anticipate making tough decisions in the upcoming budget deliberations.
“It puts us between a rock and a hard place,” said District 10 Coun. Kathryn Morse.
“You have to get revenue from somewhere. It comes from taxes or fees. So if fees aren’t going up, taxes will probably have to go up instead.”
Deputy Mayor Patty Cuttell points out that “we need housing, we need the transit.”
“We are already at a breaking point. I can feel the pressure of growth and … I’m seeing the cracks now. So this isn’t a future state that we need to address, it’s today,” she said.
Jillian Ramsay, the sustainable cities program manager with the Ecology Action Centre, says she believes the freeze will only help developers and ultimately hurt taxpayers.
“So things like fire stations, community centres, parks, and more are all built using the development charges,” said Ramsay. “If the developers aren’t paying for it, the taxpayers will.”
But Mayor Andy Fillmore says he sees the freeze benefiting affordability and doesn’t anticipate it will impact HRM’s ability to get projects off the ground.
“As always, I will continue to … push our municipality to supplement our infrastructure funding through other sources, whether it’s another order of government or even if it’s in coordination and partnership with the private sector,” he told Global News.
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