N.S. was aiming for 500 hosts on the home-sharing program that resulted in 60 leases

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston arrives to take part in the First Minister Meeting at the National War Museum in Ottawa, on Friday, March 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia home-sharing program that was billed as a tool to help address the housing shortage fell far short of the government’s initial target, documents released by the province show.

In an email shared as part of a freedom of information request made by a member of the public, a housing strategist for Nova Scotia confirmed the province’s target was 500 active homeowners with tenants in the program.

It wound up delivering 60 leases over two years and cost $1.35 million.

The program was announced in August 2023 as a way to help people find affordable housing by partnering with a non-profit organization called Happipad that operates an online home-sharing platform.

Premier Tim Houston has said he wished the program’s results had been better, but that the partnership was a success to the 60 people who found a place to rent through the platform.

Colton LeBlanc, Minister of the Department of Growth and Development, which oversees housing, repeated the government’s line when asked following a cabinet meeting Thursday whether taxpayers got value for money.

“You look back at 2022-2023 and we were at a time when vacancy is much lower than it is now and housing starts were not where they are now,” said LeBlanc. “The fact is 60 Nova Scotians were able to find a safe and affordable place to call home.”

The minister said the government would have spent much more than it did on the platform to build housing for the 60 people who benefited from the Happipad program.

“That platform, which is an intermediary, is not for everyone, but having a safe place for Nova Scotians to call home, I think that’s a success.”

But Opposition NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the government’s defence of Happipad “makes no sense at all.”

“Happipad was an absolute boondoggle and they need to take the loss frankly,” Chender said. “The reality is it was a waste of government money.”

In one of the emails released through freedom of information, a housing strategist for Nova Scotia confirmed the province’s target was 500 active hosts per year. The documents also included a proposal from Happipad that called for 500 homeowners actively hosting tenants by the end of the two-year program. That same number was repeated in the grant agreement signed by the province and Happipad.

The grant agreement said the two sides anticipated that the program would be self-sustaining by the end of the two-year term, stating that the $1.35 million would cover service fees for Nova Scotians who register on the app, marketing for the platform and the hiring of two staff based in the province to provide user support.

With 60 leases signed, the program wound up costing $22,500 per lease.

By Lyndsay Armstrong, with files from Keith Doucette

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025.