HALIFAX - Nova Scotia has extended its freeze on development approval costs in Halifax Regional Municipality by three years, moving the expiry date to November 9, 2029, in a step the province says is needed to keep federal housing infrastructure money flowing.
The amendment to the Development Approval Cost Freeze Expiration Date Regulations took effect November 5, 2026. The freeze applies to development-related fees and charges imposed by Halifax Regional Municipality, known as HRM, and by Halifax Water. While it is in force, neither body can introduce new development fees or raise existing ones.
What is frozen, and what is not
Development charges are the fees a municipality and its utilities charge builders to approve and service new construction, and they form part of the final price of a new home. Nova Scotia first froze HRM’s charges in 2023, with an original expiry of November 9, 2025, and later extended the freeze by one year under its agreement for the federal Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund.
The freeze is not absolute. The province says that through negotiations with the federal government, it secured flexibility for established consumer price index adjustments to continue during the extended freeze, so eligible charges can still rise with inflation. What is blocked is any new fee, or any increase beyond that inflation adjustment.
“Federal infrastructure funding includes requirements to maintain stable development charges,” Municipal Affairs Minister John A. MacDonald said in the province’s release. “This extension keeps Nova Scotia in line with those requirements and will support continued access to federal investments needed to help drive housing and growth in our communities.”
The rule behind the freeze
The freeze is made under Section 236A of the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter, the provincial law that governs how HRM operates. That section is what allows the province, rather than the municipality, to set the freeze’s end date by regulation, which is why a provincial regulation could extend it this week without a vote in the legislature or at regional council.
Why this matters beyond Halifax
Ottawa has tied its recent housing infrastructure funding to conditions on how cities charge for growth, and development charges have become one of the most contested costs in Canadian homebuilding: builders say high charges push up prices, while municipalities say the fees pay for the water, sewer and road capacity new homes need. Nova Scotia’s extension is the latest example of a province locking charges in place to stay eligible for federal investment.
The same trade-off is familiar in fast-growing cities across the country, including Surrey, where the size of development cost charges and who should pay for growth infrastructure are standing debates. Halifax’s freeze now runs nearly six years in total, from 2023 to November 2029, making it one of the longest-running experiments in holding those costs flat while a housing shortage continues.
(Source: Government of Nova Scotia, news release, November 5, 2026)
Byline: Apna News
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