The Housing Needs Assessment was one of the recommendations from the 2021 Affordable Housing Commission Report and intends to further our understanding of the housing needs of Nova Scotians. The Housing Needs Assessment provides data and information on current and projected housing needs for each of the 49 municipalities in Nova Scotia.
The data and information collected was also used to inform the development of two new Housing Strategies: the Provincial Housing Strategy, as well as the Student Housing Strategy, which is focused on housing for post-secondary students studying in Nova Scotia.
For this project, UPLAND collaborated with Turner Drake, CoLab and MountainMath. UPLAND led the engagement, which included a province-wide public survey that generated over 20,000 responses, a business sector survey to better understand the impacts on employers and the wider economy, first voice focus groups and interviews, as well as nearly one hundred engagement sessions with municipalities, post-secondary institutions and other stakeholders. The data collected will be used by all levels of government, the private sector, and community housing partners to make evidence-informed decisions about future investments in housing and to better meet the needs of all Nova Scotians.
