Nova ScotiaHalifax councillors say new planning changes from the province show the PC government is trying to fix a mess it created, and more public consultation on the issue will be “a sham.” Councillors question why public consultation, hearing needed when outcome decidedHaley Ryan · CBC News · Posted: Oct 09, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoHalifax regional council will move ahead with the process to make official the planning changes demanded by the province. (Brian MacKay/CBC)Halifax councillors say new planning changes from the province show the PC government is trying to fix a mess it created, and more public consultation on the issue will be “a sham.”On Tuesday, regional council talked about last week’s move by Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr to designate the entire Halifax municipality as an interim planning area. This allowed the province to immediately bring in certain planning requirements and housing changes, but those changes were already in Halifax’s larger regional plan Lohr rejected in August.“It’s the province trying to undo their own mistake,” said Coun. David Hendsbee.“This really is rescuing the province from itself,” said Coun. Sam Austin, who added that the province’s rejection threw ongoing housing projects awaiting the new rules “into chaos.”The changes are mostly minimum planning rules the province told Halifax to create last year, including removing bedroom-mix requirements in new buildings, and allowing new models like shipping containers in all residential areas.Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr has brought in new planning changes he says are needed to keep Halifax housing projects moving along. (Kelly Clark/The Canadian Press)The province also moved ahead the planning process for nine new suburban growth sites where major development is expected.Halifax must now make the changes official, so on Tuesday council directed city staff to move ahead with the regular public consultation process.“I feel like this public engagement is just a box that we have to tick for legal reasons, and it’s probably going to be a bit of a sham,” said Coun. Kathryn Morse.People can comment on the changes from now until Oct. 24, and a public hearing will eventually be held.“We don’t have any control over this, we don’t have any say. The public hearing will come, and what are we gonna do, vote no?” Austin said.“Why don’t we just get the province here — use your magic wand and sign this into law.”Municipal staff also said the province told them to hold targeted workshops with the construction and development industry, specifically naming the Urban Development Institute of Nova Scotia.Institute members include most of the major developers in Halifax and the province, as well as builders, engineers and lawyers.Stephen Adams, the institute’s executive director, submitted seven pages of recommendations for planning changes to the Halifax municipality and the province on Sept. 16.The province has said the interim planning designation will end once Halifax finalizes the planning changes itself.But Kate Greene, director of regional and community planning for Halifax, said the minister could always make other changes before then.“They do have quite a bit of power when it comes to how that order works,” Greene said during the meeting.The province has told Halifax to pass the changes by mid-December.MORE TOP STORIES ABOUT THE AUTHORHaley Ryan is the municipal affairs reporter for CBC covering mainland Nova Scotia. Got a story idea? Send an email to haley.ryan@cbc.ca, or reach out on Twitter @hkryan17.
Halifax council says planning changes are province’s attempt to ‘undo their own mistake’
