Nova Scotia·NewMayor Andy Fillmore said some buildings that have already had concrete poured and foundation work done needed amendments adopted in the regional plan to continue work.Andy Fillmore says he wants changes made to the plan to make it more ‘palatable’ to the provinceAnjuli Patil · CBC News · Posted: Aug 20, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoRegional plan rejection delaying current Halifax housing projects: mayorMunicipal Affairs Minister John Lohr recently rejected the plan, which had been in the works for years. Mayor Andy Fillmore says some projects are now in limbo. Haley Ryan has the story.Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore said Tuesday that the Nova Scotia government’s rejection of the city’s regional plan has paused some housing projects.”We’ve got projects, a significant number of units that have foundations poured or floors framed up that needed the regional plan amendments in the new version of the plan to be adopted in order to finish the project,” Fillmore told reporters ahead of a staff presentation on the plan.”So we have a situation of limbo.”Halifax’s new plan to guide growth in the region was passed by council in June and would have changed a slew of bylaws and land-use planning documents across Halifax Regional Municipality, updating the 2014 regional plan that was last amended in May.But last week, Nova Scotia Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr rejected it, saying certain environmental rules would stall development.Thousands of units impactedDuring the staff presentation Tuesday evening, Halifax planning director Jacqueline Hamilton told council the province’s rejection of the plan impacts thousands of housing units.Hamilton said in just one category, the delay affects 12 projects creating 2,000 housing units.”That’s sort of the order of magnitude … it’s in the thousands of units certainly that are impacted. That’s sort of what we know today, that’s the caveat. There would be folks who wouldn’t even be talking to us yet that would be awaiting that. I’m sure that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”Some councillors expressed disappointment that the province rejected the regional plan, which took five years to create.’I think the baby went out with the bathwater'”I think the baby went out with the bathwater here, very clearly, in terms of housing over the sake of setbacks around lakes and EV chargers,” said Coun. Sam Austin.”We could have amended those rather than rejecting the whole thing and creating this level of chaos. I don’t think this was helpful or productive.”Lohr said he was specifically concerned with two items in the plan: expanding development setbacks around watercourses to 30 metres from 20 and requiring electric vehicle parking spaces in new homes and apartments.”We felt that the focus of the plan needed to be building up density and building affordability in — and those were two examples of things that were not doing that,” Lohr told CBC News on Monday.Coun. Tony Mancini said he took issue with the province’s objection to the 30-metre setback.”Coun. Austin and I represent the City of Lakes. As Dartmouthians, to hear that, that’s just a kick in the teeth that they don’t care. It’s the protection of our lakes,” Mancini said.”Our lakes are stressed. They’re stressed because of two things: climate change, and they’re stressed because of development.”Fillmore said he is working with the provincial government to try to understand its objections to the plan. He’s hoping council can make changes that will make the plan “palatable” to the province.Construction group wants consultationIn a letter to the municipality on Aug. 5, three days before Lohr’s rejection, the Construction Association of Nova Scotia raised the same issues that the minister addressed.The group told CBC News those changes could drive up housing costs and said it wants to be consulted moving forward.”It’s always unfortunate when you see one government level having to kind of delve into the business of another government. Having said that, you know, the plan that was put forward really had no consultation with industry in terms of broad-based consultation,” Duncan Williams, president and CEO of the association, said Monday.Williams said he doesn’t necessarily object to the new regional plan, but he has questions about how it would be implemented, how appeals would be processed and how the public would be informed about cost implications of the changes.Mayor optimistic, hoping to improve regional plan”There’s an opportunity here to set up a working group that has industry professionals at the table so that we could properly give input [and] guide the process. We can’t continue to build plans in a vacuum. And that’s really what it feels like,” he said.Fillmore said he’s optimistic about conversations he’s had with provincial ministers about getting the regional plan approved and getting homes built.The mayor said Halifax has to be able to accommodate growth up to one million people while protecting the environment and making sure homes can be built.”The truth is, we need to be building 8,000 homes a year for the next number of years, as many as five or six years. Last year, we barely cracked 3,000,” Fillmore said.He said he still believes in the regional plan, but that he’s always interested in improving a plan. He said his goal is to “get it done as quickly as possible.”Hamilton said staff will come back to council once they get direction from the province on next steps. Fillmore said he hopes to have a revised plan to the province before the Christmas holiday recess.ABOUT THE AUTHORAnjuli Patil is a reporter with CBC Nova Scotia’s digital team.With files from Haley Ryan
Some housing projects in limbo after N.S. rejection of Halifax’s regional plan, mayor says
