Halifax is Driving Major Investment in Nova Scotia
HALIFAX– Nova Scotia is poised to see big investments in major projects in 2023 and beyond. That money is being driven by a rapidly growing population, clean energy investments, and strong contributions from the private sector.
Patrick Brannon, the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council’s director of major projects, recently revealed promising statistics on what the region can expect with these developments. Brannon made a 30-minute presentation in Halifax at APEC’s Building Atlantic Canada conference on June 6. APEC considers any project that costs $25 million or more a “major project.”
Nova Scotia is expected to receive $5.3 billion of investment in these major projects this year. That’s 24 per cent more than last year. And 2024 is forecasted to see a further growth of 13 per cent. Brannon notes that much of the investment is needed to support the increase in population.
“We have had very strong increases in transportation, housing, health, and education [spending] to support the growing population,” he said. “Looking ahead to next year, another 13 per cent growth we’re expecting, that’s led by wind power projects. There’s five that will come online or start to be constructed or come online in 2025.”
It’s not surprising that Halifax is in the driver’s seat and is leading the way for Nova Scotia investment. The city is getting $3.8 billion in major project investment (up 26 per cent), more than a quarter of which is going into housing developments.
“Halifax is one of the biggest drivers of this activity. About two thirds of all investment in Nova Scotia is happening in Halifax; definitely oversized for where it’s at in terms of its current size of the [provincial] economy, about 45 per cent to 50 per cent,” stated Brannon.
In Halifax alone, housing investment has doubled since 2019, according to Brannon. In 2024, it is expected that nearly $1.2 billion more will be spent on major housing developments in the city. These numbers sound big, but there is still a long way to go before the supply is in tune with the demand.
Brannon did some math off his head to demonstrate this dilemma: 3,200 new units were completed in 2022, yet the population grew by 20,000 in the city. Brannon said if you take into account the size of the average family, there were only enough units completed last year to house 9,000 people. On top of that, thousands more are expected to move to the city in 2023.
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“We need to get in balance so that the affordability [is better]. So we really do need to increase housing investment in Halifax, and that will likely continue to grow until there’s a more balanced market,” said Brannon.
“Demand is certainly exceeding supply at the moment. And the number of affordable units has to increase dramatically or we’re going to risk leaving more vulnerable people behind.”
When asked if he felt Halifax and the region is experiencing too much growth to handle, Brannon stated that the growth itself isn’t a bad thing. What’s being felt right now is the region’s lack of preparedness to handle the booming population.
“I think the growth is very positive. It’s something that we have been striving for in Atlantic Canada. But you have to prepare for that growth and we’re not as prepared as we should be to deal with the housing situation.”
“I’m definitely not saying that we shouldn’t continue with the growth. We do need it because we do have an older population that will continue to age out, and we need those new people coming in to support the labor force going forward.”
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Atlantic Canada as a region is poised to see big investments in major projects. This year, there are 528 projects, in various stages of development, representing 12 different industries. The potential spending on these projects alone is $225 billion.
Population growth, of course, is a big driver of these developments.
“178,000 people in the last six years moved into Atlantic Canada, and that’s driven by immigration, by increasing flows of people from other parts of Canada,” said Brannon. We’ve also had a surge in non-permanent residents, a lot of that international students.”
“And the great thing about this population surge; it’s mostly young people, and Nova Scotia’s average age has actually declined last year for the first time in recent memory.”
Brannon took time to compare project spending in 2023 compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019. The difference in the amount of investment in Atlantic Canada is staggering.
There is $900 million more being spent in major housing projects now compared to just four years ago. Transportation, health, education, and mining are sectors all seeing hundreds of millions more in investment. Oil and gas, and electricity however, are all seeing hundreds of millions less.
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].