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A tight Halifax rental market is pushing Haligonians to the margins
And art from the Amazon and the Arctic arrives in the city
Alyssa Goulart
May 12, 2023
PRESENTED BY
Good morning Halifax and happy Friday!
Back in April I put out a call for local stories of kindness and received so many responses from our subscribers. What better way to kick off the weekend than to share some of that kindness with the rest of The Coast community?
Here’s a story that was sent in by Joey:
A few months ago my bicycle broke on my way home from work. It was kind of rainy, so I was sitting at the side of the street cursing and resigning myself to walking home when a passing stranger on his own bike stopped to help. He looked at the problem, then biked over to Long Alley Bikes for some tools. Came back and fixed it, all in under 10 minutes.
That Long Alley Bike employee, you made my day and I never got to properly show my thanks.
Since I started biking last year I have found that Halifax's bike community is so full of kindness and care. Everyone is looking out for each other, and I am so grateful for that.
Do you have a local story of kindness you’d like to share? Send me an email at [email protected].
P.S. Coast Insiders, if you’re still trying to plan out your weekend, make sure to check out our Mother’s Day event roundup featured in yesterday’s newsletter.
HOUSING
A tight Halifax rental market is pushing Haligonians to the margins
📸 Arlo C. Bates (CC BY NC-SA 2.0)
There’s a long-running joke about Nova Scotia’s coastal counterpart: BC stands for “Bring Cash.” But a recent survey of rental rates in Canada’s priciest housing markets might soon turn NS into “Need Savings.”
No, seriously.
According to the latest Rentals.ca report, which compares asking prices of vacant units across Canada, Halifax is the most-expensive Canadian city to rent a one- or two-bedroom apartment anywhere outside of Greater Toronto or Vancouver. Haligonians in search of a one-bedroom apartment could expect to pay $2,089/month in April. That’s a near-25% jump from the same time last year.
And while both Halifax and the province have pledged to address a widening housing crisis through rent caps and short-term rental regulations, The Coast’s Martin Bauman reports that some Haligonians are finding themselves without any options they can afford.
Need to know
☀️ Today's weather: Sunny with a 30% chance of showers in the late afternoon. A high of 24C and a low of 7C.
🎥 The 12th Animation Festival returns this weekend with must-see films and more. Including new release Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, and cult hit, Bubble Bath! Get tickets now!*
Joffre Street from Sinclair to Tremont Streets will be closed today between 6am and 6pm.
Gladstone Street from Windsor Terrace to Almon Street will be closed May 14 between 7am and 4pm.
Maynard Street from Roberts to Charles Streets will be closed starting May 14 at 7am until May 16 at 6pm.
👩🎨 The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 is pleased to announce the May 13 opening of artist JJ Lee’s mixed media exhibition, In My Yesterday, as part of Asian Heritage Month and Open City programming.*
⚠️ Health Canada is warning of the dangers of children playing with water beads and its potential to be fatal if ingested. Read more here.
🚨 Are you ready for an emergency? May 7–13 is Emergency Preparedness Week. Find out how to be prepared and enter the municipality’s Emergency Management Office emergency preparedness contest online!*
📽️ A More Radiant Sphere, the documentary about Canadian communist poet Joe Wallace, shines bright for a screening co-presented by Mayworks Kjipuktuk/Halifax and Carbon Arc.*
🎭 Let’s Dance! The Musical at Neptune Theatre July 27-30. With unforgettable tunes and lots of high-energy dance numbers, this is the show to see this summer.*
*Sponsored Post
SPONSORED BY BUILD NOVA SCOTIA
Open City is this weekend!
Open City is tomorrow, May 13! Open City is an annual celebration of all the entrepreneurs and small businesses of Halifax Peninsula and downtown Dartmouth that make our community so special, vibrant, exciting, and welcoming. Over 100 local businesses in Halifax and Dartmouth will be offering specials, promos, activations, and more.
Plan your day and see who's participating!
SPONSORED BY ROSEMARY PORTER
Check out 10248 Peggy’s Cove Rd.
This charming 1.5 storey home on an oceanfront lot has that quintessential Nova Scotia feel. The main level of the original home has a spacious living room, large kitchen with laundry, separate dining room, 5-piece bath, plus a 16x20ft addition. Upstairs you'll find three cozy bedrooms and a large landing, perfect as a reading nook.
In other news
😧 Nova Scotia’s Shelter Diversion Program will no longer assist homeless individuals if their monthly income is more than $1,200. CTV has the story.
💔 It’s been 14 years since Tanya Brooks’ was found murdered at St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School on Maitland Street and the case still remains unsolved. Family and friends marched from the HRP headquarters to the school on Wednesday to pay tribute to Brooks.
👶 With new funding in hand, 300 new spaces in licensed childcare facilities will be opening in northern Nova Scotia.
♿️ 22 members have been introduced to the province’s Accessibility Committee. Read the full release here.
🏳️🌈 CBC spoke to transgender teens in Halifax about what it’s like living in the province.
🚨 Ricardo Jerrell Whynder has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Matthew Thomas Sudds whose body was found near Africville Park in 2013.
🌊 Dalhousie University has announced its plan to open a $12 million ocean science centre featuring 60 exhibits in 2025.
🔌 Eight new electric car charging stations are coming to Halifax this summer.
🎓 Tim Houston has announced that Wolfville’s Acadia University will be getting its own nursing program.
🧑⚕️The recently rolled-out fast-track program for international nurses looking to work in Nova Scotia is seeing immense success. Nova Scotia’s College of Nursing CEO, Sue Smith, says they have received more than 9000 applications from international nurses.
🏒 Halifax Mooseheads player Jordan Dumais was recently named the MVP in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
🏥 On Wednesday the provincial government announced plans to spend $17 million to create new health-care clinics and expand on those that already exist.
ARTS & CULTURE
Art from the Amazon and the Arctic arrives at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
📸 Submitted
Even though the third floor of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s north building is closed to the public, a cacophony of noise fills the space. Competing chanting from two nearby video installations cross over one another, while the adjoining hallway’s vermillion-red walls are loud enough to register over both. Around the corner, a dozen sculptural balloons softly shift in the recycled air, a collection of whispers that amplify the sound that came before. It borders on obvious to say that Arctic/Amazon: Networks of Global Indigeneity is about pluralism of voices, but that doesn’t make the chorus any less powerful—especially as the sweeping installation, which occupies both the lower and third floors of the gallery’s north building from May 11 to Sept. 17, makes room for each individual voice to be heard.
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