Halifax protesters demand ban on fixed-term leases: ‘People are terrified’

Protestors picketed outside the office of Brendan Maguire, Nova Scotia's Minister of Community Services, on Friday — calling for changes to the Residential Tenancies Act.

A small group of protesters gathered outside Nova Scotia MLA Brendan Maguire’s constituency office on Friday, as Halifax residents demanded the community service minister support legislation to end the use of fixed-term leases throughout the province.

The picketing event was organized by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Heather Clark, chair of ACORN’s Halifax division, said her organization is targeting the office of Maguire because he recently crossed the floor and joined the governing Progressive Conservative caucus.

“Last year, the Progressive Conservatives had the opportunity to ban fixed-term leases and they didn’t. Our unhoused population went from 200 to over 1,200 people,” she said, as drivers routinely honked their car horns toward the group of chanting advocates.

“They left the city of Halifax and shelters like Beacon House and Adsum House to house these people. That has to stop.”

Unlike periodic leases – such as month-to-month or year-to-year – fixed-term leases have fixed start and end dates, meaning they are not automatically renewed.

Critics have decried fixed-term leases as a “loophole” for landlords to get around the province’s five per cent rent cap, as rent increases do not apply to new tenants.

Clark said “the majority of landlords” are solely offering fixed-term leases.