Written by Sophie Downie Allen

@sophiecdownie

Starting a new school year can be difficult for anyone, especially after over a year of classes being predominantly online. While having to navigate both being back on campus and SMU’s new COVID-19 protocols, Saint Mary’s students are also faced with the same stressors that come along at the beginning of any academic year: picking classes, buying school supplies, paying tuition, and getting back into a productive study schedule, amongst other things. Yet, this year, against the backdrop of the pandemic, students were confronted with a new, potentially devastating challenge: the Nova Scotia housing crisis.

Although some SMU students will be living in university residence this year, allowing them to avoid seeking off-campus housing, many students who live in residence are in their first year of study. This means that the majority of SMU’s student body will be looking to move into apartments or student-friendly spaces in Halifax, the prices of which have been skyrocketing.

According to the Halifax Examiner, the average rent for a bachelor apartment in Halifax is up 6.5% from 2020 to $865/month, one-bedrooms are up 5.9% to $1,016/month, two-bedrooms are up 4.4% to $1,255/month, and three-or more bedrooms are up 4.7% to $1,455/month. As bad as these statistics already seem, it becomes even worse when you realize that the city’s vacancy rate for rentals sits at an abysmal 1.9%. So, even if you can afford any of the prices listed above, chances are you will have trouble finding places that sit on or below those averages. Sadly, one must also consider that in such a competitive market, building superintendents will often give preference to older, more financially secure renters over students.

Of course, students from Halifax, as well as students from away who live in the city year-round, may opt to live at home or may already have a place of residence that they inhabit full-time. For these students, the current NS housing crisis will likely not pose a huge issue either. However, SMU has a large number of students who travel back to their hometown during the summer months, with a significant portion of that demographic being international students. Currently, 29% of the students at Saint Mary’s are international, comprising almost a third of SMU’s student body. Although some international students live in university residence, with many opting to do so amidst international travel restrictions due to COVID-19, others have made the choice to make the journey home for the summer, requiring them to find a place to live upon return.

This fall, some international students are only arriving in Halifax for the first time, whether they be first-years or second-years who previously only had online classes, while others are coming back to Halifax after a year and a half, given that the university originally shut down in-person operations due to the pandemic in March 2020. To be an international student coming to Halifax right now would be overwhelming in itself, and having to struggle to find housing only compounds the stress of such a lengthy move. An article by The Star details how, in February 2021, a Saint Mary’s student spent two months hunting for a new apartment after she was forced to vacate her old residence, even being asked by superintendents to pay upfront to have her applications considered. This just goes to show the struggle that Saint Mary’s students are facing in finding fair, affordable, and timely housing amidst this crisis.

Photo by Tim Krochak | The Canadian Press

The negative impact that the Nova Scotia housing crisis has had more generally on the city of Halifax should be a point of focus as well, given that students will inevitably be affected by these issues through living and receiving an education here. Many will remember when, on August 18th, 2021, the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) began removing temporary shelters from various encampments in parks around the city. In the wake of the pandemic, which exacerbated existing problems with Halifax’s housing situation, some homeless people have had to rely on these temporary shelters, as shelters depending on government aid have remained overcrowded and underfunded. The actions taken by the HRP that day angered many, resulting in a crowd of nearly 200 protesters forming outside of the old library on Spring Garden Road, one of the locations where temporary shelters were being removed by police. Many of the protesters were young adults, meaning there were likely students mixed into the crowd. What ensued was a shocking scene: police used a sensory irritant on the crowd, which included two children, before advancing on the crowd in body armour and riot gear to make room for a worker to destroy one of the shelters. Arrests were made, and 24 people were charged in connection with the protest. Not only that, but photographs from the event have revealed that some officers had even removed their name tags.

It goes without saying that the choices made by the HRP that day, which only served to escalate an already tense situation, are condemnable and should be deeply scrutinized. The event left many Haligonians feeling rattled and even more uncertain about the role police play in our community, which has been an issue brought to even greater mainstream attention through movements such as Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police. Some may argue that the police were only acting under orders and shouldn’t be directly blamed for what occurred, which is valid, but only points to overarching issues in how the HRP handle protests.

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage defended the actions of the police, saying that things didn’t take a turn until protesters started to gather and the police were “trying to deal with this and treat people with the dignity they deserve”. He also stated that the removal of the temporary shelters is about “health and safety”, as activities taking place around some of the encampments had raised COVID-19-related worries. No matter how you want to look at what took place on August 18th, one thing is indisputable: the HRP, and in turn, the city of Halifax, blamed protesters for rightfully speaking out against the clear injustice of removing the only shelter that someone has, when housing is more unaffordable than it's ever been. And that’s where the real problem lies; the municipality has been ineffectual at dealing with Halifax’s homeless population amidst the conditions of both a pandemic and a provincial housing crisis, criticizing individuals for being homeless rather than seeing them as people who have fallen victim to bad circumstances.

As of September 2021, there are 399 people in Halifax experiencing homelessness, according to the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia. This number is right on par with the highest number of people in a month since April 2019, which occurred in September 2020 when there were 401 homeless people in Halifax. The sad reality is that this number is probably much higher in actuality, as it can be hard to account for every homeless person in a city of approximately 400,000. The city of Halifax has done little to effectively deal with Halifax’s housing problem, which is why some have resorted to living in temporary shelters in the first place. On the official Halifax website, it states that the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) has “adopted an empathy-based approach to homelessess and homeless encampments” and that the HRM “recognizes that all residents deserve a home”. I think many, including myself, would argue that the excessive force displayed by the police on August 18th severely undermines the city’s supposed “empathy-based approach”. Also, while the city may recognize that all residents need a home, they have not been offering many solutions. There are steps outlined on the Halifax website for the addition of more temporary accommodations to the city, but the only promise of when that will occur is “as soon as possible”.

Students should not have to worry if they will be able to find a place to live, or afford their overly expensive rent, upon returning to university. School is stressful enough, and housing is a human right; it’s unfair for students to be thrust into such a competitive housing market when they may not even have learned how to navigate adulthood yet. Moreover, while most of the homeless people in Halifax are likely not students, there is a significant chance that a few of them are - there could even be students attending Saint Mary’s who are currently living without a home. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not happening, which is why it's important to remember that homeless people are people too — sometimes you can end up in a situation for reasons that are completely out of your control.

For students, it seems as if the housing crisis will only continue to worsen; the rent cap that currently exists in Nova Scotia is set to expire in February 2022, which promises that renters will be facing big increases when the time comes. Moreover, if you think there’s a chance the rent cap will be extended past February 2022, think again - Nova Scotia’s newly elected premier, Tim Houston of the Progressive Conservative party, is adamantly against rent control. Students are not the only ones who have been drastically affected by this housing crisis, either. Countless Nova Scotians are unable to afford future rent increases, unable to find affordable housing, and even unable to find places for rent at all, and the crisis is no longer solely impacting low-income earners. Ultimately, there is no reason why any Nova Scotian should simply accept the housing crisis for what it is. If people do not speak out against the HRM and the province's handling of the crisis, especially the young people who will have to navigate the housing market for decades to come, our basic right to housing will continue to be infringed upon. If we want things to be better going forward so that everyone can feel secure in finding housing, the best thing we can do is make our voices heard by those who have the power to change the face of Nova Scotia’s housing market. One way you can do so is by writing to your city councillor - the contact information for Halifax’s city councillors is available on the Halifax website.

The Nova Scotia Housing Crisis: How Halifax’s Students and Homeless Population Have Been Affected

FOLLOW US