N.S. funded 954 new affordable rental units in last 5 years

The rows of townhouses on True North Crescent are part of a 32-unit development, built with funding from the provincial and federal governments.

The rows of townhouses on True North Crescent are part of a 32-unit development, built with funding from the provincial and federal governments.

Kabalen, the head of the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia (AHANS), said the units his organization is building are desperately needed in a province that is experiencing skyrocketing rents and low vacancy rates.

Yet housing developments like this aren't being approved fast enough, he said. "This project ... took months of planning, months of back and forth with all the different levels of government," Kabalen said. "I don't think governments are moving quickly enough to have a meaningful impact on the affordable housing crisis."

Hard data on affordable housing being built in Nova Scotia every year isn't publicly available. Data the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing provided to CBC shows the province has helped fund 954 affordable rental units in the past five years. The projects are at varying stages, with some completed, some under construction, and some in planning stages.

Most of these new affordable units are part of larger developments that include market price units as well, built by private developers or by non-profit organizations like AHANS.

At the current pace, it would be impossible to meet the target of 33,000 affordable homes Nova Scotia is expected to need over the next decade.