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Monday 9am - 4:30pm Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm Thursday 9am - 4:30pm Friday 9am - 4:30pm

Dalhousie Legal Aid Service, 500/5991 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, NS (2026)

05/28/2026

🚨 NEW! Clinic Schedule and Services

Our Social Justice Clinic is changing our operations to meet the increasing volume of inquiries and to be able to triage and most effectively serve people based on the severity of their issue.

📅 We are still holding drop-in appointments Tuesday afternoons from 1-3:30 PM - however, in addition to this we are now offering more phone appointment slots on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon for people outside the HRM or who cannot otherwise access drop-ins.

We receive dozens of calls every week with questions about Residential Tenancies and ESIA. Now, instead of being directed to a drop-in time, callers will be connected to our Legal Intake Coordinator, who can triage your question and often give you answers and resources right over the phone! ☎ You can also complete a self assessment here: https://www.tenantsrightsguide.ca/clinic-evaluation

📑 For people with complex or urgent issues, we now have scheduled appointments on Wednesday afternoons where you can meet directly with a Community Legal Worker and Law Student and get assessed for legal representation ASAP.

For all issues, you can call our Legal Intake Coordinator at 902-423-2627 to get assessed

More information about the social justice clinic is on our website: https://www.tenantsrightsguide.ca/social-justice-clinic

05/27/2026

🏘️ Important Recent Small Claims Decision: Lease rules charging “move-out & cleaning fees” violate the Residential Tenancies Act and are unenforceable.

In a recent Small Claims Court decision, Panco Construction Ltd. v. Paydar, (2026 NSSM 4), the Court ruled that landlords cannot use lease agreements to override the legal standards in the Residential Tenancies Act.

The case involved a Halifax landlord trying to keep a tenant’s security deposit using a common “move-out checklist” system many renters have seen before, including:
- charging fixed hourly cleaning fees
- charges for scratches or appliance wear
- detailed cleaning requirements far beyond ordinary use
- automatic deductions from security deposits for minor repair issues

The landlord’s lease included pages of preset charges for things like:
- cleaning floors
- cleaning ceilings
- lint in the dryer trap
- scratches on appliances
- “damaged” refrigerator parts
- hourly labour charges for cleaning & repairs

The Court rejected the claim entirely. The adjudicator found these clauses were an attempt to “rewrite the RTA” by replacing the legal standard of "ordinary cleanliness" and "ordinary wear and tear" with a requirement for near perfection.

The decision clearly states these provisions are:
1️⃣ “absolutely contrary to the RTA”
2️⃣ “not enforceable”
3️⃣ “should not be included in any residential lease in Nova Scotia”

The Court also reaffirmed that landlords are not entitled to receive a unit back in exactly the same condition it was in years earlier. Normal living causes wear and tear, and tenants cannot be held financially responsible for ordinary depreciation.

In the end, the tenant received the full return of her $1,100 security deposit.

This is one of the clearest decisions in Nova Scotia confirming that move-out and automatic cleaning charge lists are unlawful.

If your landlord is relying on one of these lists, it’s important to know:
📌 Lease terms cannot override the Residential Tenancies Act - even if you signed and agreed to them
📌 “Ordinary cleanliness” is the legal standard, not “hotel clean”
📌 Tenants are not responsible for ordinary wear and tear, especially over longer tenancies

Note: The price list pictured is one example of many-such types of fee schedules. Urchin Property Management is not associated with the case at hand.

05/12/2026

🏡 Join us for the launch of our Housing Rights for People With Disabilities Project!

For the past few years, DLAS has partnered with and organizations across Canada to do research and create resources aimed at reducing barriers to housing for people with disabilities.

As part of this collaboration - we are launching a resource for renters with disabilities, featuring artwork by Nova Scotian artists renting and living with disabilities.

Join us in-person at the DSU building or via livestream on May 21st at 7pm to hear more about the project, pick up your booklets, and eat and mingle ✨

📆 May 21st at 7pm
📍 Dalhousie Student Union Building, Room 307
🔗 See Eventbrite link to register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/art-project-launch-housing-rights-for-people-with-disabilities-tickets-1988912220993?aff=oddtdtcreator

Accessibility Information:
♿ Mobility: The event is on the 3rd floor of the building. There is a public elevator with large buttons and braille, accessible through the University Avenue building entrance. The University Avenue entrance has a push-button automatic door opener.

🚽 Washrooms: There are 2 individual, gender-neutral washrooms on the 3rd floor near the meeting room, as well as gendered washrooms with stalls. There are accessible stalls, as well as single-stall washrooms that can accommodate a variety of mobility devices.

🚎 Transport and parking: Halifax Transit buses 4, 10A, 10B, and 10C stop outside the building on LeMarchant Street. There is no parking at the building. There is accessible parking at the Killam Library, approx 150 metres from the DSU. There is street parking on surrounding streets.

🦠Airborne Illnesses: This is not a mask mandatory event, however, masks will be provided and two HEPA air filters will be running. The space is mostly enclosed, with a single doorway that will be open for airflow. Windows can also be opened weather-permitting. There is also a livestream option for at-home participation.

👃Scents: This is a scent free event. The DSU is a shared space so guests might be exposed to scented products.

💻Tech: The event will be livestreamed. All speakers will use a microphone.

05/11/2026

🏘️ Housing in the News: “Lawsuit from seniors in subsidized housing targets Calgary housing agency, province and city”

A proposed class-action lawsuit in Calgary alleges ongoing maintenance failures, including elevator outages, pest infestations, flooding, and unresolved safety issues. Some residents report feeling unsafe in their buildings and say complaints were not adequately addressed.

The lawsuit also points to a broader issue: whether tenants feel safe speaking up at all.

Lawyer David Chan describes a “chilling effect,” where residents may avoid raising concerns out of fear it could impact their housing. For some tenants, that fear appears tied to lease renewals.

Like in Nova Scotia, under Alberta law fixed-term leases do not automatically renew. The lawsuit includes allegations from residents who say their leases were not renewed after raising concerns about safety and conditions.

One tenant reported being told they would not be allowed to stay because they had made too many complaints. Others say they now fear losing their housing altogether.

This is not just a concern in Alberta. In Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency has also begun using fixed-term leases in certain circumstances. While currently limited, this case highlights the risks of expanding their use in public housing.

There are growing concerns across Canada that fixed-term leases in non-profit, subsidized, and public housing could mirror practices seen in the private market, where non-renewals can be used to remove tenants without due process or raise rents.

📰 You can read more on the CTV News website

05/07/2026

🏘️ Housing in the News: “Canada's mid-size cities are growing like big ones - and running into the same fights”

New CMHC data is giving a much clearer picture of what’s happening in Halifax’s rental market, and it directly challenges the province’s claim that building more luxury rentals will solve the housing crisis.

The article looks at how cities like Halifax are increasingly building dense, multi-unit housing instead of suburban sprawl. In Halifax, apartments now make up roughly 85% of all new housing starts. But despite years of record apartment construction, the housing market continues to worsen.

As housing researcher Ren Thomas points out, most new housing is being built for the market, not for need. So what gets built is determined by what is most profitable, not what people can afford.

The median rent for a newly built two-bedroom in Nova Scotia is now around $2,350/month. At the same time, CMHC data shows that “turnover rents” are dramatically higher than rents paid by existing tenants. In Halifax, a tenant moving into a two-bedroom unit in 2025 would pay an average of $2,058/month, compared to $1,764/month for a tenant already living in a similar unit.

This matters because the government’s housing strategy depends on the idea that higher-income renters will move into new luxury units, freeing up older apartments for everyone else.

But when wages and cost of living are nowhere near keeping pace with market rents, very few tenants in older "affordable" units are choosing to move into luxury apartments and pay significantly more each month. And when turnover does happen, landlords usually just reset the rent to market rate for the next tenant.

This is especially important in Nova Scotia, where fixed-term leases continue to drive turnover by allowing landlords to end tenancies without cause at the end of a lease term.

For years, tenants and advocates have been saying that market-rate construction alone will not create affordability. This data is some of the clearest evidence yet confirming exactly that.

📰 You can read more on the CBC’s website

05/06/2026

🏘️ Housing in the News: “Rents continue to rapidly climb for Nova Scotia's oldest and most affordable rentals”

A CBC analysis of new CMHC data shows that rents for units built before 2000 increased 13–18% from 2024 to 2025. Over five years, rents in these same buildings have risen 42–58%.

While the provincial government continues to frame affordability as a supply issue, this does not explain how rents are increasing within existing units.

Recent data shows that in 2025:
1️⃣ More tenants signed fixed-term leases than any other lease type
2️⃣ About 25% of ALL tenants were on fixed-term leases

Unlike periodic leases, fixed-term tenancies allow landlords to end a lease for any reason when it expires, including to raise the rent far above the cap for the next tenant.

That creates constant turnover, especially in older, lower-rent units, where each turnover becomes an opportunity for large rent increases. In other words - the rent cap only works if tenants can stay, and the government is leaving a massive door open so landlords can force tenants out of their homes to avoid the cap.

The province also pointed to a “doubling” of vacancy rates in the lowest-priced units. However, this increase was from 0.4% to 0.7% - FAR below a healthy market rate.

At the same time, newer units remain significantly more expensive. A two-bedroom built in the last five years has a median rent of $2,350, about 73% higher than units built between 1980 and 1999.

U of T housing researcher Carolyn Whitzman responded, saying: “You’re meeting the immediate needs of people, rather than expecting… magical forces of the market to provide.”

She and others argue that the government's strategy of relying on “trickle-down” housing - where higher-income tenants move into new units and free up older ones - is too slow to address the crisis. She says we would need to be building twice as many rentals as we currently are to see relief in 20-30 years.

The data raises important questions about how current policies are affecting affordability in the units people depend on most.

📰 You can read more on the CBC’s website

05/05/2026

🏘️ Housing in the News: “N.S. landlord calling for mandatory radon testing in rental properties”

A Halifax landlord is calling for mandatory radon testing in rental housing after discovering her properties in the South-end of Halifax are affected - and highlighting a major gap in tenant protections across Nova Scotia.

Radon is an invisible, odourless gas and a leading cause of lung cancer, linked to more than 100 deaths each year in the province. Despite this, there’s no explicit requirement for landlords to test for or fix it.

That means tenants are often left to identify the issue and navigate the system themselves.

As Mark Culligan from Dalhousie Legal Aid Service explains: “A lot of these kind of issues are just left up for a tenant to make a claim about… [which] puts a financial and administrative burden on the tenant.”

Even when tenants pursue action through the Residential Tenancies process, without enforcement there's no real consequences for non-compliance.

Nova Scotia has higher-than-average radon risk, and mitigation can cost thousands of dollars - well beyond what most tenants can afford. But without clear rules, there’s no requirement for landlords to act unless tenants push the issue.

Mark Culligan points to a clear solution: mandatory testing, meaningful enforcement mechanisms at the Tenancy Program, and province-wide standards of maintenance. If we require smoke alarms and window screens, why not test for a cancer-causing gas?

📰 You can read more on the CBC’s website

05/04/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out to NSCC for our Gender Marker & Name Change Clinic! 🪪 🌈

We had 15 people drop by to speak with staff lawyer Sue Young and file paperwork to start the process 📄

📍 Missed it? Stay tuned for more dates this summer! ☀️

04/27/2026

🚨 NEW BLOG POST 🚨

"Two-Tier Tenancies: What B.C.’s Supportive Housing Bill Could Mean for Nova Scotian Tenants"

Across Canada, supportive, long-term housing is expanding quickly - and in the middle of a housing crisis, that should be a positive development. But recent changes proposed in British Columbia raise a more complicated question: What kind of housing are we creating, and do people in supportive housing deserve the same rights as other tenants?

The changes in BC suggest that government's answer may increasingly be “no”.

Proposed changes to the RTA in B.C. could allow supportive housing providers to issue evictions without notice and more have control over tenants’ lives, all in the name of “safety.”

Dal Legal Aid is watching these developments closely from Nova Scotia. We've already seen many non-profit organizations that have taken on new roles as long-term housing providers, when previously they were running shelters and temporary, transitional housing. These non-profits sometimes transition from offering services to acting as landlords, with very little support and resources to learn their new rights and responsibilities.

At the same time, there has been growing pressure to apply shelter-style rules in these long-term housing arrangements . That can include restrictions on guests, increased access to units by staff, and the use of agreements that frame housing as conditional on program participation rather than as a tenancy with legal rights.

The issues raised by supportive housing providers are real, and they should not be dismissed. But weakening tenant protections is not the only response available. In the middle of a housing crisis, stability should be the goal. That depends on rights that are clear, consistent, and enforceable for everyone.

🔗 You can read more on our website: www.tenantsrightsguide.ca/blog

04/24/2026

🏘️ Housing in the News: “Historic Renters’ Rights Act becomes law”

The UK has officially passed the Renters’ Rights Act, marking one of the most significant pro-tenant overhauls of rental law in decades.

At the heart of the new law is the abolition of fixed-term leases. Once the Act comes into force, nearly all tenancies will become open-ended (periodic), meaning renters are no longer locked into year-long contracts.

The Act also eliminates “no-fault evictions”. Landlords will now have to provide a valid reason, like selling the property or serious rent arrears, and prove it through a legal process. Even then, the rules are stricter: for example, tenants must fall at least three months behind on rent before mandatory eviction proceedings can begin, in contrast with Nova Scotia's system where tenants can be evicted being in arrears just 15 days.

Other major changes include:
1️⃣ Limits on rent increases: capped to once per year, with at least two months’ notice, and tenants can challenge unfair hikes.
2️⃣ Stronger housing standards: including enforcement of the Decent Homes Standard and faster timelines to fix serious hazards.
3️⃣ Right to request pets: landlords must reasonably consider tenant requests.
4️⃣New accountability systems: including a national landlord registry, clear guidelines and timelines for when repairs must be done, and fines and penalties for non-compliance.

Implementation details are still being finalized, but the message is already resonating: this is a major win for tenants’ rights in a rental market that, in many ways, mirror's Nova Scotia's.

As housing affordability and renter protections continue to dominate conversations in places like Nova Scotia, and where the current trend in government is to roll back already weak tenant protections - what would it look like to bring similar reforms here?

Dalhousie Legal Aid Service

05/28/2026

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Monday	9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 4:30pm
Thursday	9am - 4:30pm
Friday	9am - 4:30pm