May 15, 2026
Heather Dunham's morning routine is hard to hear.
The single mother wakes up every morning to make tea and is greeted by a dozen or more cockroaches crawling over her countertops, she told the Canadian Press (1).
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Her evening routine is not any better — at night she hears rodents scampering throughout her residence. Dunham told the Canadian Press that she has mentioned the issues to her landlord but nothing has come of her pleas.
"It's hard on my breathing with the mouse poop everywhere and the cockroaches… I'm terrified, I'm just terrified," Dunham told the outlet.
Her son, Martin Gorman, revealed that one morning he went to eat some cereal, only to find cockroaches filled his bowl.
Dunham and her son have been living in the Spryfield apartment for over a decade. Despite multiple requests to remove pests and infestations, and to repair previous flooding damage, nothing has been done.
Gorman feels that their landlords are trying to drive them out of their rental unit so they can renovate it and then charge higher fees.
"I honestly think he's trying to push us out of the building," he said.
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Dunham told CP that they would find a different location to rent, but they can't find anything at an affordable price.
"Somebody should step in, somebody has to help us," she pleaded.
Not the only renters with a grievance
Dunham and Gorman are not the only Halifax renters fed up with squalid living conditions. A group of tenants are fed up with the "chronic infestations" in their residences and believe their landlords are neglecting to remedy the problem.
On May 6, a group of Halifax tenants attended a rally outside of Dunham's building, which was organized by the housing advocacy group ACORN.
Harold Kierstead, a Halifax resident who attended the rally on behalf of his friends facing "deplorable living conditions" did not mince words about the state of their residences.
"Bedbug infestations, cockroaches… doors that aren't working right, don't lock properly. People are getting tired of paying rent for this," Kierstead said, referring to his friends who live in an apartment building across the harbour in Dartmouth.
ACORN member Mariah Baker noted that it is difficult to pinpoint exactly how many tenants are facing infestation issues or living in homes with repair issues. That said, the advocacy group is aware of a number of "densely-populated buildings in the area that have pests."
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The Canadian Press reported that the Halifax Regional Municipality did not respond to a comment request immediately.
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What are renter's rights to safe housing in Halifax?
In Halifax, the rights of renters and what types of living conditions they should have are outlined in the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) and accompanying regulations (2). Under the Statutory Conditions section of the RTA, landlords are required to keep the renter's premises in a "good state of repair and fit for habitation…" In addition to complying with the RTA, landlords are also required to comply with any health, safety and housing laws, as well as city bylaws (3).
More specifically, landlords are generally responsible for keeping their units and buildings pest-free, which includes cockroaches and bed bugs — and landlords are required to foot the bill for pest-control measures (4).
The same principle generally applies to repairs and maintenance in rental units as well. Aside from minor maintenance (e.g. changing a lightbulb), landlords are required to keep their rental units in good repair and must not put the costs for these tasks onto tenants either (5).
However, in practice, having repairs completed on a unit is a struggle for tenants, as landlords often do not want to spend the extra money to fix up the residence. In some cases, tenants that are on a fixed term lease or other difficult housing situation may not want to broach the question of repairing their living area for fear they could not have their lease renewed.
How can tenants respond to poor living conditions?
If any safety issues in a tenant's residence showcase that their landlord has breached their Statutory Conditions under the RTA, a tenant may be able end their lease early. They may also pursue reimbursement (known as a rent abatement) with the residential tenancy board (6).
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In situations where a tenant does not want to leave their home but needs it to be properly maintained, they can file for a rent abatement with the tenancy board. A Residential Tenancy Officer may issue a formal order for the landlord to fix the issue without the tenant having to end their lease.
While these options are theoretically available to Nova Scotian tenants facing harsh housing conditions, in practice they might not be feasible due to the lack of affordable housing. According to the April 2026 Rent Report from rentals.ca, Nova Scotia is now the least affordable province to rent in, with the average rent asking price making up 37% of the median renter's income (7). While that is a fair drop from the province's peak of 46% in 2022, it still puts financial strain on individuals and families who are stuck between a unit they cannot afford and one they can hardly live in.
For context, the Canadian government recommends that rent and other household-related expenses (e.g. utilities, maintenance) should not be higher than 35% of someone's gross household income (8). With Nova Scotians already topping the recommended line in rent costs alone, they face considerable pressure to not take a risk and look for a new rental unit.
A survey from the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service highlights these challenges are stopping renters from taking action. A survey of over 1,200 tenants found that only 6.2% took legal action to resolve tenancy issues with their landlords through the provincial government's Residential Tenancies Program (9). Their data found that renters were feeling hopeless — they did not think anything could be done to fix their situation. Others reported a fear that taking legal action would damage their relationship with their landlord/building manager and some reported a lack of familiarity with their legal rights as renters (10).
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How tenants can fight back against unfair conditions
Dealing with financial pressure from high rent costs and poor living conditions is dispiriting. But renters in Halifax do have legal rights that can help them find support and compensation when their rental unit is not fit to live in. Here are some practical steps tenants can take right away if they are not in safe housing.
- Document issues closely. As a renter, documenting your issues closely with photographs, notes, communications between you and your landlord, and how these difficulties affect your daily life is paramount.
- Bring your concerns to your landlord in writing. Renters should bring their concerns about residential conditions to their landlords as soon as possible and put them in writing. Make sure to clearly identify the problem, ask for a timeline and keep a copy of the request on hand.
- Escalate the issue to the Residential Tenancy Board. If discussions with your landlord yield no results, it is time to bring the issue before the Director of the Residential Tenancies Program. To do so, you'll need to submit a Form J: Application to Director (11). After paying the appropriate filing fee, a staff person from the Residential Tenancy Program will set a hearing date. As the applicant, you are required to serve the Notice of Hearing to the landlord and give proof to the board. At the hearing you will need to present evidence and your side of the case on a conference call. Prior to the hearing, sometimes a residential tenancies officer will offer to have a mediation to resolve the issue through mutual agreement, rather than a legal order. If this mediation does not work, the hearing proceeds as usual (12).
- Get additional help. Trying to navigate a board hearing is daunting. A number of groups such as ACORN Canada (13), Dalhousie Legal Aid (14), or Nova Scotia Legal Aid (15) can help you find camaraderie or legal assistance at little-to-no cost when dealing with unsafe living conditions.
For renters living in public housing and facing similar issues, they should know they have the same rights under the RTA as private property tenants (16). Additionally, public tenants can raise concerns about their living conditions to the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency (17).
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
The Canadian Press (1, 9); CanLII (2); Dalhousie Legal Aid: Tenants’ Rights Guide (3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 16); Rentals.ca (7); Government of Canada (8); Dalhousie University (10, 14); Government of Nova Scotia (11); ACORN (13); Nova Scotia Legal Aid (15); Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency (17)
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Brett Surbey is a corporate paralegal with KMSC Law LLP and freelance writer who has written for Yahoo Finance Canada, Success Magazine, Publishers Weekly, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes Advisor and multiple academic journals. He and his family live in northern Alberta, Canada.
