The governments of Canada and Nova Scotia have announced plans to extend the province’s Investment in Affordable Housing agreement for an additional five years, to 2019. The $102 million investment will be funded, equally, by each level of government and will help create new affordable housing options for seniors, families and persons with disabilities.

Funding at the federal level is supplied by the Economic Action Plan 2013.

“Too many families and seniors still need affordable housing,” says Joanne Bernard, Community Services Minister responsible for Housing Nova Scotia. “The extension of this agreement will help us provide more affordable housing, help seniors live independently in their homes longer, and provide assistance to persons with disabilities to make adaptations to their home.”

Under the extended agreement, low and modest-income families will be able to make important repairs to their homes and owners and renters will have access to a range of affordable housing options. The original investment, which ran from 2011 to 2014, helped approximately 7,400 Nova Scotia households.

The announcement of the extension, made on August 5, took place at the Bloomfield Centre in Halifax. The centre is being redeveloped as a mixed-use, mixed-income community with 478 residential units.