Vacancy rate in CBRM falls below 1%, CMHC report says

Cape Breton's vacancy rate has plummeted to 0.8 per cent, the lowest in the province, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

That's down from 1.5 per cent in 2022, and 6.1 per cent in 2021.

The data is from the agency's fall count, which also shows that the overall vacancy rate in the province is 1.1 percent. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were tied with the lowest rates in the country.

"I think in the case of Cape Breton, it's a situation of higher demand and not enough supply," said Kelvin Ndoro, a senior analyst with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

"Unlike Halifax, where we [have] seen lots of construction, especially in their apartment sector or the rental construction sector, it's not necessarily the case in Cape Breton."

Vancouver and Quebec City were tied with the lowest vacancy rate among the country's major cities, at 0.9 per cent. 

Halifax's was next, remaining at a "very low" rate of 1 per cent for the third straight year.

Recent investments announced for the Sydney area from the federal government's housing accelerator fund will help, but not for several years, he said.

Ndoro added that the type of construction happening in Cape Breton does not lend itself to lowering the vacancy rate because it's focused on single detached homes rather than apartments.

CBRM Mayor Amanda McDougall said she was surprised the vacancy rate was that low, but all levels of government have made commitments to improve housing availability in the municipality.

"Being able to provide grants to developers to kind of get over those hurdles of, 'how do I afford to put affordable housing, use it as units into my development,'"she said. "All of this expedites the process and gets things moving. If we can get those numbers changed, we're going to do it as fast as possible."

Catherine Leviten-Reid, a professor in community economic development who studies housing issues, has said the recent announcement that $13.3 million will be provided through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund to fast-track construction of 367 housing units in Cape Breton over the next three years will help developers, but not the people who have the highest need for housing.

The trend toward falling vacancy rates in CBRM comes after many years in which the municipality saw its population decline. 

A surge of families moving to the island during the COVID-19 pandemic caught many in the housing sector by surprise. 

Some believe the municipality has been overlooked by multiple levels of government.

"CBRM is the second largest municipality in the province and I argue, and have been arguing, that they're not treated as such," said Derek Mombourquette, MLA for Sydney-Membertou.

"It's a population of 100,000 people, we're growing for the first time in decades and with that comes pressure on the resources that we need to provide to people, including housing."

Mombourquette said the vacancy rate being so low in CBRM should set off alarms for developers, saying there is an opportunity to build large apartment developments in the community.

Based on recent policy changes and commitments from government, Ndoro said he believes the vacancy rate could improve on Cape Breton, but that would take time.

"Small changes can make a big difference," Ndoro said. "But for now we have such a shortage in housing that the supply gap is big, so we don't necessarily expect to see immediate changes right away."