The Province of Nova Scotia has extended its five per cent rent cap to December 31, 2027, in addition to announcing other amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act.

Changes include: new and clearer conditions for when landlords can end a tenancy; prohibiting tenants from subletting their unit for more rent than they are paying; permitting the Province to publish all or part of the residential tenancies director’s orders issued after a hearing; new requirements for landlords to provide email addresses if their tenants also provide them; establishing a common anniversary date for land-lease communities for changing or implementing rules, and posting rules in an area that is accessible by all community tenants.

“Given the challenges we’re facing in our rental market, we need to consider the increased costs that landlords face managing their properties,” said Colton LeBlanc, Minister of Service Nova Scotia. “We need to balance this and extend the cap to help renters who are facing rising costs due to inflation. We’re also making changes to address rental arrears eviction timelines, problem tenants and sublets, and we’ll continue to keep a close eye on the rental market and on the needs of tenants and landlords in Nova Scotia.”

According to the government, changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will shorten rental arrears eviction timelines to align Nova Scotia with other Canadian provinces, allowing landlords to begin the eviction process after three full days of lapsed rental payment. Tenants would then have 10 calendar days to pay their rent or dispute the eviction notice. Nova Scotia currently has the longest eviction timelines in the country, with landlords required to wait 15 days after rent is late to file an eviction notice and tenants given another 15 days to pay their rent in full or dispute the eviction notice.