The municipal affairs and housing department announced on Friday that the provincial and federal governments are investing a total of $16.6 million in 10 affordable housing projects across the province.

Stephan Richard is the executive director of housing solutions and development with Municipal Affairs and Housing and said this is an opportunity for Nova Scotians who are desperately looking for affordable housing.

"10 projects will be built in the next few months that will create a total of 236 rental units, of which 155 will be affordable. And what we mean by affordable knowing the market rent in that area, and asking the developer to discount some of those units to 80 per cent of that local market rent," said Richard.

Stephan Richard is the executive director of housing solutions and development with Municipal Affairs and Housing. Photo contributed.

He added that in some projects the discount would be more or less, depending on the market rents.

"If the market rent in one particular area for a unit was $1,000, there are programs in that unit that would be rented to eligible tenants for $800 or $750, or $700 depending on the project and the level of contribution," he added.

All ten projects are located outside of Halifax, with the closest development being built in Truro, which will create a total of 56 rental units, of which 28 will be offered at affordable rates.

Three projects will be built in Cape Breton, two will be built in Sydney, one in the Sydney Mines, one in Guysborough, one in Tatamagouche, one in Amherst, one in Shelburne, one in Barrington Passage, one in Churchill, and the other one will be in Alma, which is just outside of Westville in Pictou County.

Richard said the projects support different types of housing depending on the requirements and locations, including multifamily apartment buildings, and row houses. In terms of when these units will be ready, he said some of them are already underway.

"Some projects are already underway,  but it's really difficult to predict when they will be ready for occupancy. All these developers are facing the same challenges we are facing in Nova Scotia, which is a shortage of skilled labor and disrupted supply of material during COVID-19," he said.

Typically, it would take between 18 to 24 months, he said, and that smaller projects would take will take less time while larger projects might take up to two years. He added that some ways to address the gap in the marketplace would be to recruit skilled tradespeople, which the government has been focused on, and build modular homes.

"The greatest benefit with modular housing is that it's built 12 months a year in a factory, and then it's transported on on your construction site for the proper hookups. And so if we could have arrangements with the manufacturers, that could produce housing," explained Richard.

Richard said an important aspect when it comes to the housing supply is the community housing sectors, such as cooperatives and non-profit housing.

"Some folks might be familiar with the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia, the Mi'kmaq Friendship Centre who are working on several exciting projects for Indigenous peoples living off reserve. The Housing Trust of Nova Scotia is another one, who are partnering with the province to build modular housing to help bring those skilled trade workers and healthcare professionals here," said Richard.

The projects are part of the Affordable Housing Development Program.

Listen to the full CKDU interview below: