Residents Urge Winter Stay Option for Campsite Dwellers in Halifax Amid Housing Crisis

A homeless camp is shown beneath an overpass in Montreal on April 14, 2023. The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes

Campground trailer residents have asked the Halifax Regional Municipality if they will keep urban campgrounds open over the winter season because residents have nowhere else to go.

Time is short as the cold season approaches and residents who have been using Shubie Campground are asking the city to keep campgrounds open throughout the winter so they'll have somewhere to park their RVs. Shubie is the only fully serviced campground within city limits.

Carrie Steves is one of nine campground residents requesting that Shubie Campground remain open and told CBC she has nowhere to go. “There’s no choices, there’s nothing available,” she said. “There’s no light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing’s changing. Nothing’s getting done.”

Halifax Regional Municipality Coun. Tony Mancini said affordable housing and homelessness are at a crisis point. He also acknowledged that residents are facing this dilemma because they cannot find alternative affordable housing, despite being employed.

He said there is potential to keep the campsites open; however, Shubie Campground does not have running water over the winter season so washrooms and laundry facilities would be without.

“There’s about 22 sites that would work quite well for trailer hook-up so if we can figure out the water piece, then I think we are good to go,” Mr. Mancini told CTV News.

In 2022, the vacancy rate in Halifax stayed around 1 percent, the second lowest in the country, and was the second fastest-growing city by population overall.

Mr. Mancini said 7,700 units are under construction in the city with another 4,300 awaiting permit approval.

Housing affordability has emerged as a significant political and social concern throughout Canada. According to a January 2023 report by the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average cost of a Canadian home has surged to $716,000.

Demand for housing significantly outstripping supply means house prices and rents have surged in recent years, pushing affordable housing out of the reach of ordinary Canadians. Many have argued Canada’s immigration policy has contributed to the housing shortfall. The highest number of immigrants to enter Canada in a single year in its history was nearly 405,000 in 2021.

A Toronto Dominion Bank report, “Balancing Canada’s Population Surge,” warns if the population boom continues at its current pace, there will be dire consequences for housing, interest rates, social infrastructure, and the economy.

The report, released July 26, says economists have been warning about the imbalance caused by Canada’s population surge, straining economic growth, tax revenues, and the social system, and throwing the economy off course.

In June, a report by Rentals.ca and Urbanation indicated that the average rental unit’s listed price in Canada reached an all-time high of $2,042. This increase can be attributed to ongoing interest rate hikes coupled with population growth.

“What the country is experiencing right now is a perfect storm of conditions,” said Shaun Hildebrand, president of Urbanation, a real estate research firm.

“It’s interesting that rents continue to grow this fast despite rental apartment completions in Canada currently running at multi-decade highs. It really shows that the housing industry isn’t producing enough rental supply to satisfy this record level of rental demand.”

The government’s 2017 National Housing Strategy (NHS) includes the construction of new rental homes, and the program includes initiatives to renovate existing homes, low-cost financing for governments and housing developers, and rental assistance.