N.S. government not moving ahead with a residential tenancy enforcement unit this year

The Nova Scotia government will not introduce legislation this fall to create a residential tenancy compliance and enforcement unit, meaning it will miss the timeline recommended in a report it commissioned on the issue.

Colton LeBlanc, the minister responsible for the Residential Tenancies Act, said on Thursday that creating a unit is something that's "on the radar" of his department, but right now the focus is on an awareness and education campaign about the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords.

"We'll start that new campaign this month," he said in an interview at Province House in Halifax.

"It is complex. It impacts many, many Nova Scotians and we want to make sure that we're getting it right."

In the midst of a housing crisis that has seen vacancy rates plummet and rents skyrocket, advocates for both tenants and landlords have said an enforcement unit would help address shortcomings in the system that often sees long waits to get tenancy hearings and results in decisions that are difficult to enforce.

The report, commissioned by the government to look at the system in Ontario, called for an enforcement unit to be in place by next March, according to documents obtained by CBC. For that to happen, legislation needed to be introduced and passed during the fall sitting.

Premier Tim Houston confirmed earlier this week that there is no more government legislation coming this session, which started last week. Signs point to MLAs being done at Province House as early as next week.

LeBlanc said he would bring legislation forward to create a unit "at a future date." In the meantime, he said the tenancy board is an effective tool for landlords and tenants to have issues addressed.

But opposition leaders disagree with LeBlanc's assessment.

"Resident tenancy enforcement is one of the big things we can do right now to help ensure that tenants are being looked after and that landlords are protected," Liberal Leader Zach Churchill told reporters.

"The current system is failing. When you've got disputes that are lasting for months at a time between landlords and tenants, something more needs to be done and what needs to be done is enforcement — there's nobody that's enforcing the rules right now."

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it's inexplicable for the government to delay action on the issue.

"We have a huge imbalance of power between landlords and tenants [and] they both say the system is broken," she told reporters.

"We have so many people who are just hanging on, who are facing eviction in this province; they may not have the time or capacity to [go to the tenancy board] and even if they do, decisions are not enforced."

That means people have to use the courts to get decisions enforced, creating further barriers, Chender said.

The government has had the report for close to a year but has yet to make it public. LeBlanc said the public would get the see the report when he moves ahead with legislation.