A working mother who came to Nova Scotia 12 years ago is now feeling forced to move because of the high cost of living. “I’ve been noticing my just overall attitude of negativity about the province has been growing,” said Shyla Hacala. Hacala moved to Nova Scotia in 2014 and says her bills have more than doubled since buying a home in the Fall River area five years ago. The financial pressure is beginning to weigh on the single mother of two children. Despite earning around $75,000 in annual salary from Canada Post, Hacala has had to find work outside of that as a yoga instructor. “If my family circumstances allowed it, I would actually leave now,” said Hacala, but she co-parents with her former spouse, who she divorced and will remain here for time being. “But once my kids are through school here, I plan to leave the province.” Hacala used to be able put away her income from yoga towards savings, but that money now gets eaten up at the grocery store and increasing household bills. While she considered selling her home, she can’t find an apartment that’s affordable and suits her needs. “I found that a suitable three-bedroom rental was $3,500 a month, which is more than my take home salary,” she said. Halifax Partnership chief economist Ian Munro says the pressure people are feeling is real. Nova Scotia experienced a population boom that nobody could have imagined and the services have to keep up, said Munro, which is part of the growing pains of Halifax becoming a major city. “Housing, transit, health-care systems,” said Munro. “They just couldn’t match that rate of growth.” The lack of housing created a spike is hosing and rental costs and while many households still rely on oil to heat their homes, those costs are adding to the financial pressure. Munro says affordability is a serious issue and a lot of it he says relates to what happens internationally and points to the rising costs of fuel impacting the economy here. “People use oil to heat their homes much more here than the rest of the country,” said Munro, which is having an impact on utility costs. While Nova Scotia’s population continued to grow by more than 8,200 people in 2025, that growth is not at the same level as in the past. It’s the slowest annual growth in population since 2017. That’s helping take pressure off the housing market while new homes get built. “Halifax has more housing units under construction than any other city in the country,” said Munro. While that doesn’t give immediate help to Hacala, it’s a sign the pressure on housing is easing somewhat. NDP Leader Claudia Chender invited Hacala to share her story and hosted a news conference with the working mother at Province House in Halifax. Chender says Hacala’s story is becoming more common. “We’re talking about thousands of people in this province who are spending more than half of their take home pay on their housing costs. it’s not sustainable. It’s not a system that works,” said Chender. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
