Nova Scotia urged to close ‘pathways’ that lead people to losing their homes

The head of a Nova Scotia shelter for women and children says the province can reduce homelessness by addressing the “pathways” that lead people to end up on the street.

Sheri Lecker told a legislature committee today in Halifax that fixed-term leases and so-called “renovictions” are part of the problem — and that both can be resolved by political action.

A fixed-term lease allows a landlord to raise the cost of rent well beyond the province’s five per cent cap, and a renoviction is a term to describe when a tenant is forced to leave their unit for renovations.

Lecker, who is executive director of Adsum for Women and Children, says that until those two “pathways to homelessness” are closed, people will continue to lose affordable housing.

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As well, she says a list of 1,286 people who self-reported being unhoused in the Halifax municipality as of last week is not a full representation of the local homeless population.

Lecker says there are many people considered “hidden homeless” who are not on the list, and at least 197 children who are in unstable housing are also excluded from the data.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2024.