Our first council meeting of the year was held on Tuesday, 13 January 2026.
The full meeting agenda, reports and video recording are linked below, as are the draft Minutes.
Halifax Regional Council – January 13, 2026
January 13, 2026 Regional Council Draft Minutes | Halifax.ca
10.1 Councillor Austin – Missing Middle Housing
“THAT Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to:
1. Undertake engagement with the development community around building code barriers to missing middle housing, including single-point buildings;
2. Return to Council with the results of that consultation and with a jurisdictional scan of building codes and approaches to alternative compliance across Canada regarding small scale single-point buildings; and
3. Depending on the outcomes of engagement and the jurisdictional review, provide recommendations regarding guidelines for alternative compliance and/or a strategy to engage with the Province around building code changes.”
Councillor Austin’s single staircase motion passed unanimously and is explained thoroughly in his post below.
Council Update: Missing Middle, Pensions – Sam Austin
I engaged with staff on this topic after their 14 October 2025 information report to council, as I want to make sure that developers know that “objective based solutions” are a pathway (alternative compliance) to building (low-rise) single stairway buildings in HRM. It takes more work at the moment than building the two staircases per code, but it is certainly available to people who want to build more creative buildings.
The pension topic (15.1.8) is worth a read too. Lower contributions mean greater employee retention. HRM needs to attract top talent to serve residents well. Unlike my colleague, I voted Yes for the staff report on looking into joining our plan with the NS government plan. Larger pension funds mean greater stability, and a large portion of our members are HRCE employees anyway. A staff report gives us more information on whether to pursue the topic further or not.
15.1.2 Second Reading of By-law P-1204, an amendment to By-law P-1200, Respecting On-Street Parking Permits, and Proposed Amendments to Administrative Order 15, the License, Permits and Processing Fee Administrative Order
Motion:
“That Halifax Regional Council:
1. Adopt By-law P-1204, amending By-law P-1200, the On-Street Parking Permits By-law, as set out in Attachment 1 to the staff report dated October 23, 2025; and
2. Adopt the amendments to Administrative Order 15, the License, Permits and Processing Fee Administrative Order, as set out in Attachment 2 to the staff report dated October 23, 2025.”
This is an exciting first for Atlantic Canada, and the country as a whole outside of Montreal. HRM will now charge different prices for residential parking permit fees, depending on vehicle weight. The reason for this is that heavy vehicles generate more wear and tear on infrastructure so we want to encourage residents to purchase smaller vehicles, which also tread lighter on our environment and provide road safety benefits. EVs are not exempt from this policy, as their reduced emissions benefits were out of scope for the considered change. There are larger and smaller EVs on the market, so this policy incentivizes buying the smaller one. Also, commuter and visitor parking permit prices will not change either, as there is an additional administrative burden to implementing that change. Baby steps in the right direction.
This motion passed 11-5. I voted Yes.
This topic was first discussed at council in June, and I wrote about it here.
First reading of this bylaw occurred in December.
15.4.1 2026 MLSER Major Hosting Events
Motion:
“Halifax Regional Council:
1. Approve an event grant in the amount of $90,000 from the 2025/2026 Community and Events Reserve, Q621 to fund the 2026 U SPORTS Men’s University Cup; and
2. Pending approval of the 2026/2027 budget, approve an event grant in the amount of $1,000,000 from the Community and Events Reserve, Q621 to fund the 2026 ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships.”
MLSER stands for the Marketing Levy Special Events Reserve. Hotels charge this regulated fee, and the money is used to fund Discover Halifax and local events. The U SPORTS Men’s University Cup (hockey) will be held at Scotiabank Center from March 19-22.
18.1 Councillor White – Parking Compliance Officers
Motion:
“That Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to provide a briefing note as an over-budget item for the 2026/27 budget process that considers hiring more parking compliance officers:
a. to work during the current hours and locations HRM covers
b. to expand weekend enforcement
The briefing note shall speak to when the start-up expenses of hiring new staff would be covered financially for the municipality.”
I thought this one may come as a staff suggestion to budget committee, but through recent conversations with staff I realized that it would not, as it is technically an over-budget item.
Here is the “reason” for my motion:
“There is a feeling by residents that many HRM bylaws are not adequately enforced. There are many reasons for this, but one is budget constraints – HRM cannot afford to be everywhere and enforce each infraction. However, when it comes to parking, the fines generated by the infractions enforced would cover the cost of staffing the positions. Considering the addition of staff in this area is a situation that we can offer improved service delivery and safer streets to residents at a cost that is expected to generate general revenue.”
The motion generated a healthy discussion around the table and passed unanimously.