Tag: Nova Scotia

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Cottage Life

Cage diving with great white sharks coming to Nova Scotia this summer

Photo by Stefan Pircher/Shutterstock

Are you ready to swim with the sharks? Nova Scotia is getting its first-ever shark cage diving experience hosted by the new company Atlantic Shark Expeditions. 

Based out of Liverpool, N.S., the business will charge participants $395 per person ($355 for students) to cage dive with great white sharks from August 1 to the end of October. Boats depart daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The company aims to combine shark research and conservation with thrill-seeking adventure and family fun. 

The minimum age to cage dive with sharks is 10 years old and all patrons will be provided with proper gear and a wetsuit before diving. Staff will try to lure sharks to the boat with bait, although they do not guarantee shark sightings. 

Founder of Atlantic Shark Expeditions Neil Hammerschlag and boat captain Art Gaetan have developed strict policies to ensure the safety of participants. They have been working hard to ensure their boats meet Transport Canada standards and the diving cages are properly constructed. They modelled their business off of Apex Shark Expeditions in South Africa, where they both conducted research for many years.

“We care about the safety of not only the people but the sharks too,” says Hammerschlag. In as safe an environment as possible, the expeditions will “provide the opportunity for the public to learn about and help support the conservation of sharks through ecotourism and citizen science.” Ecotourism is essential to shark research because it helps fund the science, and the majority of profits will go toward advancing the research and educating the public. 

Hammerschlag stresses that cage diving is a crucial first step toward better understanding shark behaviour for both scientists and everyday people alike. Guests will have the opportunity to observe shark tagging and tracking, shark biopsies and anatomy, and other shark research in real-time. “We give people the opportunity to become a marine biologist for the day,” says Hammerschlag.

Some community members in South Shore are raising concerns about the presence of sharks near surfers and beachgoers. Other worries have centred on the ethics and sustainability of cage diving and the idea that sharks will associate humans with food. Cage diving will also not solve the problems of overfishing, depopulation, and habitat destruction that are adversely impacting shark populations. In addition, carelessness and recklessness while out on the water with sharks could have severe consequences. 

Hammerschlag says staff will be three kilometres from shore and far away from any beaches or surfing spots. Captain Gaetan will also survey new sites every day so that cage diving happens in a different location with each outing. The sharks will not actually be fed, and bait will only be used to lure them near the boat. Hammerschlag notes that because sharks have poor eyesight, they will not be able to see humans in the cages, so any association is unlikely. “You also have to realize that what we are doing pales in comparison to hundreds of seals off the coast of Nova Scotia that attract sharks far more than humans do,” says Hammerschlag. 

Despite concerns, the community reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and many people are excited by the prospect of shark cage diving. If you want to swim with great white sharks, check out Atlantic Shark Expeditions. Too scary? You can find more ocean adventures in Nova Scotia here.

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Mobile Syrup

Nova Scotia invests millions in Pictou County high-speed internet project

A high-speed internet project from the Municipality of Pictou County has received a funding boost from Nova Scotia.

The project, which aims to bring high-speed internet to 4,700 homes and businesses, will receive $10.6 million from the Nova Scotia Internet Funding Trust.

“The Nova Scotia Internet Funding Trust shares our commitment to provide Nova Scotians with high-speed internet access,” Nova Scotia’s Community Services Minister, Karla MacFarlane, said. “The Pictou County Rural Broadband Project is an important part of how we will achieve this, and together with our partners, we are pleased to support this expansion.”

The project has a $53 million price tag. The federal government is providing $31 million.

Until the project is complete, residents and businesses can access fixed wireless service. The county started rolling it out in December, and people can switch over when fibre through the project becomes available. Residents and businesses can alternatively access internet through the  Satellite Internet Service Rebate Program.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Government of Nova Scotia 

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Cottage Life

Should Ontario regulate short-term rentals? Here are the pros and cons

Photo by Billion Photos/Shutterstock

Municipalities from across Ontario have taken different approaches to regulating the short-term rental industry, and now, with many local governments taking action, some are wondering if it’s time for the province to get involved. The move to provincially regulate short-term rentals wouldn’t be entirely unprecedented—Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have both implemented their own form of short-term rental regulations. 

Jelena Vuckovic, a short-term rental owner in Tiny, Ont., says she would like to see short-term rentals regulated at a provincial level as a way for the government to eliminate unnecessary confusion between jurisdictions.

“Currently each municipality has the ability to regulate STRs in any way they see fit and regulations range from complete bans of STRs, to no regulation at all,” she said, in an email. Ontario could implement province-wide short-term rental health and safety standards to fill in regulatory gaps among municipalities, says Vuckovic. 

Steve Pomeroy, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Urban Research and Education at Carleton University, says there could be pros and cons to Ontario introducing province-wide short-term rental regulations. 

The main benefit, Pomeroy says, is that the province would have stronger authority to back up the legislation. “If someone is contravening a provincial law, the recourse is usually a little bit stronger than it would be for breaking a municipal bylaw,” says Pomeroy.

Provincial regulations could also ease the financial burden for municipalities, says Pomeroy. For instance, the province could absorb the responsibilities and costs of operating a short-term rental licensing program. While local governments typically charge fees to offset the cost of licensing programs, Pomeroy says he suspects the revenues generated by licensing fees often don’t cover the cost of running and enforcing the program itself. 

While the potential for the province to absorb responsibilities from the municipalities exists, Pomeroy says the inverse has been more common of late. “The provinces are downloading responsibilities to municipalities, particularly Ontario,” he says, noting that most municipalities lack the financial resources to take on extra duties. 

A lack of resources among local governments means enforcement of short-term rental regulations could still remain an issue, regardless of the province’s involvement, says Pomeroy. 

“It’s not the kind of thing we want to have the RCMP or provincial police coming around enforcing. It’s a bylaw enforcement kind of function, which tends to be staff at the municipal level,” he says. “The challenge really for the municipalities is having the resources to do it.”

Nova Scotia currently operates a provincial short-term accommodation licensing program. The province works with private hosting sites to ensure compliance and collects the data for municipalities to use while enforcing their own short-term rental and zoning bylaws.

Vuckovic says she thinks the Nova Scotia system would be fitting for Ontario, and could potentially take a load off overburdened municipalities. “I honestly think that’s gonna solve so many problems,” she says. “Not just for us, but for the smaller townships and towns. They don’t have the money, they don’t have the manpower to be doing this. And honestly, they should not be doing it themselves, this is too big.”

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Federal government funding high-speed internet access for 4,700 households in Nova Scotia

Canadian flag waving with Parliament Buildings hill in the background Ottawa,Ontario, Canada

The federal government is providing funding to bring high-speed internet access to 4,700 households across dozens of communities in Nova Scotia.

The Municipality of Pictou County will receive $31 million in funding through the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF). Braeshore, Dalhousie, and Lansdowne Station are some of the many communities that will benefit.

“Our municipally owned and operated high-speed network will provide rural residents with quality internet and make this community a leader in future growth for all sectors of business, health care, education, tourism and recreation,” Robert Parker, Warden of Pictou County, said.

The UBF funds projects to bring high-speed internet to 98 percent of Canadians by 2028 and 100 percent by 2030. The federal government previously provided funding to Alberta and Ontario through the program. A map outlining projects funded under the UBF is available here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada 

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Cottage Life

Nova Scotia adds stricter short-term rental rules to its province-wide registry

Photo by ducu59us/Shutterstock

New amendments are coming to Nova Scotia’s provincial short-term rental registration system this spring, the province announced. 

Three major revisions to the act were approved in April 2022 including:

  1. The removal of a registration exemption for short-term rentals operated in primary residences (meaning single-room rentals and bed-and-breakfast style operations must now register annually).
  2. Short-term rental owners are now required to include their registration number in their online listings. 
  3. All rental owners will have to attest to their property’s compliance with municipal land-use bylaws when registering.

Anna Moran, director of research and policy at the department of communities, culture, tourism, and heritage, says these changes will help the province and municipalities get a better understanding of the short-term rental situation in Nova Scotia. “The intent of the amendments is to support us—the province—to gather comprehensive data that we can then give to municipalities to help them with their land-use bylaws,” she says.  

Moran says these changes were introduced in response to the demands of municipal leaders. “What we were hearing from municipalities was ‘you don’t require primary residences to register—that’s an issue for us. We’re going to set up our own registry.’ Nobody wants that kind of duplication of effort,” she says. 

Nova Scotia became one of the first provinces in Canada (after Prince Edward Island) to regulate short-term rentals at a provincial level when they introduced the Tourist Accommodation Registration Act in the spring of 2020.

Moran says the act established the provincial registry for short-term rentals to assist local governments in enforcing their own regulations. “What municipalities asked us for is support to get a clear picture of the short-term rental situation in their communities,” says Moran.

The registration act requires that every short-term rental property owner register with the Tourist Accommodations Registry annually. The cost of registration depends on the size of the accommodation—for properties with one to four bedrooms, the fee is $50; for properties with five or more bedrooms, the fee is $150. 

The act defines short-term rentals as any operation with a fixed roof being rented to the public for less than 28 days at a time. This means the act applies to a broad range of accommodations including hotels, motels, apartments, homes, vacation properties, and more, says Moran. 

The province is emphasizing an education-first approach to enforcement, working with hosting sites to ensure all listings are in compliance with the provincial regulations, says Moran. However, the province can also enforce fines starting at $1,000 per day, capped at a maximum of $7,500 annually, for rental owners who do not comply with the act. To date, just over 1500 accommodation providers have registered with Nova Scotia. Rental owners are required to register with the province through their online portal by April 1, 2023.

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Cottage Life

What cottagers need to know about Hurricane Fiona financial relief programs

Photo Courtesy of Catherine Simms/Facebook

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced the creation of the Hurricane Fiona Recovery Fund. The fund includes $300 million that will be used over the next two years to aid those impacted by the post-tropical storm that hit Atlantic Canada and Eastern Quebec on September 24.

In a statement, Trudeau said that the fund will cover the costs of rebuilding businesses, fishing wharves, and other infrastructure not covered under the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA).

The DFAA covers 90 per cent of a province’s expenses following a disaster, including transportation, emergency food, shelter, and restoring or replacing uninsurable dwellings and items, such as books and furnishings. A province is eligible for the DFAA when its own disaster response and recovery program is spending over $1 per capita of the province’s population.

In the case of Hurricane Fiona, financial assistance through the DFAA is limited to those who have their primary residence in the affected province. This means cottagers and other secondary property owners aren’t eligible—unless they live in the province, and then the financial assistance would only apply to their primary residence.

Eligibility for the Hurricane Fiona Recovery Fund is still being ironed out, but it’s likely it will follow the same criteria.

“That is pretty standard for these kinds of programs, in our experience,” said Dan Bedell, a spokesperson for the Red Cross, which is handling the distribution of financial aid to residents in Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador. “It is the case with these three [provinces] that we’re supporting…It’s for people who have been displaced from their primary residence, which means it’s the home that they live in either year-round or the most. It normally does not cover cottages, secondary homes, things like that.”

Nova Scotians whose primary residence is unlivable are eligible for $1,000 through the Red Cross. In Newfoundland and Labrador, households that were evacuated from their primary residence and returned by September 30 are eligible for $1,000, and households that were not able to return by September 30 are eligible for $10,000. In PEI, anyone with a primary residence in the province at the time of the storm is eligible for $250.

In Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, Bedell said you have to show proof of being impacted, but in PEI, “the only criteria [is] that you be a resident of Prince Edward Island at the time, and that you have some photo ID or something that confirms that you are who you say you are,” he said. “Just yesterday, for example, there were about 5,000 [PEI residents] that received an e-transfer. That was about $1.25 million just in one day.”

Each of the three provinces is also offering further financial assistance under the DFAA. Once again, only those with a primary residence in the province are eligible.

In Nova Scotia, the province’s Disaster Financial Assistance Program covers damage to a property owner’s primary residence, clean-up costs, and the loss of uninsurable items, such as appliances and furniture. Up to $200,000 per person is available for these repair and replacement costs. The province makes it clear, though, that insured or insurable items (even if insurance wasn’t purchased) aren’t eligible.

Newfoundland and Labrador has allocated $30 million to aid impacted residents and communities. It will follow similar criteria to Nova Scotia. And PEI has said that the amount allocated to impacted individuals will depend on each unique situation.

Those in need of serious financial assistance should document the damage with pictures and then apply for their province’s financial assistance program through their respective government’s website. Individuals have until January 31, 2023, to apply.

For those looking to apply for the funds being distributed by the Red Cross, Bedell said they can register online or call the Red Cross’ toll-free number at 1-800-863-6582. “As of this morning, we had registered through that process, and this is across the four Atlantic provinces, 30,729 households, which represented 65,613 people. And that number goes up every day as more and more people register,” he said.

As for cottagers, especially those whose primary residence is outside the Atlantic provinces, they’ll have to rely on insurance to cover any damages.

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Cottage Life

Sable Island’s wild horse population weathers Hurricane Fiona

Photo Courtesy of Sable Island Institute/Facebook

On Saturday morning, Hurricane Fiona collided with the East Coast of Canada. Wind speeds reached 179 km/h, Antigonish, N.S. recorded 200 millimetres of rain, and waves in the Atlantic Ocean peaked at 30 metres high. Homes were flattened, towns flooded, and thousands have been left without power.

One of the few groups to emerge unfazed by the hurricane is the wild horses of Nova Scotia’s Sable Island. “Late Friday afternoon the horses were still grazing as usual. They sought shelter during the storm and by mid-day Saturday they slowly came out from the dunes to continue their grazing,” said the Sable Island National Park Reserve in an update.

Sable Island is a 42-kilometre-long crescent of shifting sand dunes and long grass, located 290 kilometres off the coast of Halifax in the Atlantic Ocean. The island is operated by Parks Canada and plays host to researchers and visitors.

The island is also home to around 500 wild horses. The exact origin of the horses is unknown, but the most common theory is that they were taken from Acadians deported to the U.S. in 1760 and resettled on Sable Island to be used at a later date. No one came for the horses, though, and eventually, they grew feral.

The horses have had to adapt to a harsh, windy climate. With no tree coverage, Sable Island is exposed, leaving only beach grass and marram grass to cover the island’s surface. Over the years, there have been initiatives to plant trees on the island, but the only tree that’s managed to survive is a shrub-sized pine.

To deal with the climate, the horses have grown shaggy coats and manes, and have learned to dig shallow wells in the sand to access groundwater. There are also freshwater ponds the horses drink from on the western half of the island.

The horses live in small family groups with a dominant stallion, one or more mares, and their young foals, sticking within a territory of three square kilometres.

In 1960, the Federal Crown Assets Disposal Corporation put the horses up for sale with the intention of removing them from the island, but enough people wrote to then Prime Minister John Diefenbaker objecting to the sale, that he put an end to it, protecting the horses under the Canada Shipping Act. It’s now illegal for the horses to be touched or fed, and they don’t receive veterinary care.

Despite how well the horses have adapted, storms are still hard on the animals, and Hurricane Fiona managed to pummel Sable Island. “They find shelter from the wind and blowing sand in the lee of dunes—there are plenty of hollows and high dune slopes in inland areas, and depending on the wind direction, the horses also huddle on the beach at the base of the dunes,” the Sable Island Institute said in an update. Often the older horses will huddle around the younger ones, protecting them from the wind.

Once the storm had passed on Saturday, staff saw the horses emerge from the dunes and carry on with their routines as if nothing had happened.

The island’s buildings weren’t as lucky. Three Parks Canada employees and one Sable Island Institute researcher were holed up in the island’s station during the storm. “Our houses shook and we heard lots of banging with loose siding. Needless to say, like a lot of Maritimers, there was a lack of sleep that night. We were in regular contact with the mainland using a satellite telephone,” The Sable Island Park Reserve reported in its update.

The building lost siding and the storm damaged the roof, but no major catastrophes otherwise. There is a lot of debris around the station to be cleaned up and erosion to the dunes has prevented staff from taking vehicles out to check on the island’s beaches.

Visitor flights to the island have been cancelled until September 30 while staff complete urgent repairs and make a full assessment of the damage.

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Cottage Life

Cottage real estate region: Cape Breton Island

Photo by Vadim.Petrov/Shutterstock

In 1955, Cape Breton Island was connected to North America via the Canso Causeway; a strong island identity prevails, expressed as quasi-nationalistic pride and warm hospitality. Sydney residents maintain a tradition of “going to the bungalow” in summer, but cottage life across Cape Breton now includes many out-of-province owners.

There are famously beautiful beaches at Inverness on the west side and at Ingonish on the east, near the entrance to Cape Breton Highlands National Park. But many small, secluded beaches are scattered along the coast. There are affordable places on freshwater lakes, but most Cape Breton cottagers want the saltwater experience. For a little of both, try the brackish waters of Bras d’Or Lake. It’s a boater’s paradise with protected coastline and access to open ocean for adventurous sailors. Places with deep-water mooring are pricey, but this inland sea is served by marinas in communities such as St. Peter’s, Baddeck, and Ben Eoin.

Ceilidhs, traditional Gaelic social gatherings, are held regularly in many communities, often featuring world-class fiddlers. And if you cottage into October you’ll enjoy spectacular fall foliage as well as an extensive lineup of international and local musicians at the Celtic Colours International Festival.

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Develop Nova Scotia to bring high-speed internet to 400 homes through new deals with Eastlink and Bell

Develop Nova Scotia has signed contracts with Eastlink and Bell to bring high-speed internet to 400 homes and businesses in the province.

Eastlink will provide access to 66 homes and businesses in Annapolis Valley. The company is also working with Develop Nova Scotia to reach other areas in the province. Develop Nova Scotia says Eastlink will complete the project between November 2022 and January 2023.

Bell will bring the service to 333 homes and businesses in smaller areas and complete the project by December 2023.

Develop Nova Scotia, a provincial crown corporation, is working to bring high-speed internet projects across the province. It has already provided new or upgraded internet access to 60,000 locations.

“Together with our internet service provider partners, we are working hard to ensure projects underway are delivered on time and to identify solutions for the remaining homes and businesses,” Jennifer Angel, President and CEO of Develop Nova Scotia. “Thanks to this announcement with Bell and Eastlink, we are one step closer to our goal.”

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Develop Nova Scotia 

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Cottage Life

Real estate agents oppose Nova Scotia’s new taxes for non-resident property owners

Photo by Shutterstock/Sam and Brian

At the end of March, Finance Minister Allan MacMaster released Nova Scotia’s 2022-2023 budget. As part of the budget, the province has introduced two new taxes that target property owners who live outside of Nova Scotia: a Property Tax and a Deed Transfer Tax. Both taxes took effect on April 1.

The Property Tax requires non-resident owners to pay an annual $2 per $100 of the property’s assessed value, as determined by the Property Valuation Services Corporation. Non-residents who rent their properties to Nova Scotians are exempt from this tax.

The Deed Transfer Tax requires any non-resident purchasing a residential property, including vacant land classified as residential, to pay a five per cent tax on the property’s purchase price or assessed value (whichever’s greater). Non-residents are exempt from this tax if they permanently move to the property within six months of purchasing.

The Nova Scotian government estimates that the two new taxes will generate $81 million of revenue in the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The earnings will be used to combat the housing crisis that’s plagued the province for the last three years. The price of properties and rent have skyrocketed in Nova Scotia, particularly around the Halifax area, and affordable housing is in short supply.

In October 2021, Halifax’s vacancy rate dropped to one per cent, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, tying the area with Victoria, B.C., and Peterborough Ont. for the lowest vacancy rates in Canada. Halifax’s vacancy rate first hit one per cent in 2019, the area’s lowest reported rate in the past 30 years.

In part, the government holds the high percentage of non-resident property owners in the province accountable for the low vacancy rate.

In 2020, 3.6 per cent of Nova Scotia’s residential properties were owned by non-residents, a higher percentage than both Ontario and British Columbia. Nova Scotia’s Finance Department estimates that around 27,000 of the province’s residential properties are owned by non-residents, with 52 per cent of those owners coming from Ontario.

The government theorizes that the new taxes will convince the province’s non-resident property owners to sell or rent their properties to Nova Scotians, opening up more affordable housing. The majority of people impacted by the new taxes, however, will be out-of-province cottage owners.

“Nova Scotia has a lot of people that come back because the cottage has been in the family for two or three generations, and it just happens that the children have moved to different provinces, but they still consider [the cottage] as going home,” said John MacKay, owner and broker of MacKay Real Estate. “They keep the cottage because it’s a great place to get together with family, cousins, relatives, and things like that. And now you’re doubling or tripling the taxes. People are going to question that.”

In a letter opposing the new taxes, real estate agent Stan Rose wrote: “Non-residents are not covered under Nova Scotia health plans and have to pay for any and all medical expenses. They are not a drag on our welfare system. They have no kids in school and most of them are only here from late spring to early fall. I don’t think any are in our prison system. They only use our roads during the period they’re here, and that doesn’t contribute to the damage done in the winter season.

“Actual benefits to Nova Scotia: They buy land and build expensive houses and then are taxed accordingly. They hire carpenters, roofers, painters, plumbers, and other tradespeople. They buy furniture, cars, trucks, trailers, boats, build wharves, buy clothes, food, alcohol, and oil, and support local restaurants and tourism events. They pay HST on most of these items and do not get any back. Looks to me like we already have a win-win situation. Why mess it up?”

Both Rose and MacKay are concerned that the non-resident taxes will deter out-of-province buyers from purchasing property in Nova Scotia and convince cottage owners to sell, impacting the province’s economy. It’s unfortunate, MacKay said, as he sees the demand driving the housing and apartment shortage in Nova Scotia as separate from the demand driving the cottage market. “The two are apples and oranges.”

With the ability to work from home, there’s been more demand for people to get out of their rental accommodations and buy a house, which is driving the housing shortage, MacKay said. Whereas cottage demand is being driven by people who’ve decided not to vacation internationally due to the pandemic and are instead looking for a domestic retreat.

Regardless, the government has moved forward with the taxes, and, in its 2022-2023 budget, has devoted $15 million to affordable housing programs.

“We will do what needs to be done to make sure Nova Scotians can afford a place to call home,” MacMaster told the province’s legislature.