Rural Short-Term Rentals

Project Background

On February 21, 2023, Regional Council approved amendments to municipal plans and land use by-laws to establish consistent region-wide policies and regulations for short-term rentals (STRs).

On September 1, 2023, new land-use by-law regulations came into effect. Previously, there were no consistent land-use by-law regulations in place for STRs. The amendments clarified where STRs are permitted, and where STRs must be located within the primary residence of the host. For more information, please see the staff report.

Regional Council then directed staff to examine whether the rural areas of the municipality required a different regulatory approach. For clarity, ‘rural’ means areas of the municipality that are located outside of the urban settlement boundary.

The municipality’s rural areas make up a vast amount of land, spanning from Hubbards to Ecum Secum. There are numerous natural tourist attractions in these areas, such as Peggy’s Cove, Lawrencetown Beach, and Martinique Beach. Many of the rural communities in the municipality include cottage-style developments, such as seasonal dwellings.

Since 2001, a tourist accommodation of one dwelling unit is permitted on every property in most of the western regions of the municipality, in communities such as Hubbards, Tantallon, Ketch Harbour, and the Prospect area. In the eastern regions, zoning is flexible and allows commercial uses as-of-right, including short-term rentals.

Proposals

Municipal staff are recommending amendments to land use by-laws to ensure consistency across the municipality. This includes introducing regulations to most rural areas of the municipality which would allow one dwelling unit per lot to be used as an STR. Few properties are anticipated to be impacted by this change.

The Short-term Rentals (STR) in Rural HRM Map below demonstrate where commercial short-term rentals are currently permitted within rural HRM with areas illustrated in grey. The areas illustrated in yellow, show where commercial STRs are currently not permitted within rural HRM and would be most impacted by these amendments. Please use the interactive map at the bottom of the page to determine if your property is located in rural HRM.

The Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains, and Upper Sackville area and North Preston, Lake Major, Lake Loon, Cherry Brook, East Preston area are not proposed to be included as part of the proposed amendments for rural STRs. The municipality’s African Nova Scotia Community Action Plan (ANSCAP) team is currently working together with African Nova Scotian communities to consider new planning policies within the African Nova Scotian communities. The focus of this work is to create new Municipal Planning documents with a focus on responding to community concerns and opportunities. For additional information regarding the ongoing work with the municipality’s ANSCAP team within the Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains, and Upper Sackville Plan Area, please feel free to reach out to Devon Parris at Devon.Parris@halifax.ca or Miles Agar at agarm@halifax.ca.

Interactive Map

For the purpose of the survey mentioned above, 'rural HRM' means areas of Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) that are located outside of the urban settlement boundary.

Please click the interactive map below to determine if your property is located outside of the urban settlement boundary: Rural Short-term Rentals (STR) Interactive Map

- UPDATES -

Halifax Regional Council received a staff report with information on this project on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. A link to the report is available through the May 27 Halifax Regional Council Agenda (Item 15.1.2).

Amendments to short-term rental regulations for some rural plan areas (detailed in the abovementioned report) are being considered through the Regional Plan Review, Phase 4 package. First reading of the package passed at a meeting of Regional Council on Tuesday, June 10.

To review the proposed amendments to Land Use By-Laws on short-term rentals, please see Attachment C of the proposed Regional Plan package, available as a PDF linked from Item 10.1 of the June 10 Halifax Regional Council Agenda.

Public Hearing

Halifax Regional Council will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed Regional Plan and amendment package, including Minimum Planning Requirements, on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. in Council Chamber (Halifax City Hall) - 1841 Argyle Street, Halifax, NS. The hearing will continue on additional dates as necessary.

To learn more about the public hearing process and how to participate, please visit the Regional Plan Review project page.

Learn More

To learn more about the project:

• Ask a Question: Use the "Ask a Question" tab (below) to ask a project team member a question.

• Email: Reach out to the project team by email.

• Anne Winters, Principal Planner, at Anne.Winters@halifax.ca

• Kate Clark, Planner II, at Katherine.Clark@halifax.ca