Nova Scotia Community College opens new 200-bed student residence in Dartmouth

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HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia Community College has officially opened the third of seven promised on-campus housing projects at its waterfront campus in Dartmouth.

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The $58.6 million student residence will house 200 students beginning in September.

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NSCC president Don Bureaux said the project at the Ivany campus is on budget and on time.

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“In fact all of our (housing) projects have been on time and on budget,” Bureaux said Wednesday, during a news conference held outside the new building.

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He said the facility would help ease the burden of finding accommodations in a still stressed housing market. As of the end of 2024, the vacancy rate in the Halifax area was just over two per cent.

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“Solving housing for our students has to be a multi-pronged approach, we are working with our private partners in the community and we are working with other options to make sure students have available housing,” Bureaux told reporters. “So this (residence) is just one of many options”

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The residence houses one bedroom suites and also shared three and four bedroom suites. On average, the one bedroom suites will cost $1,136 a month.

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A year ago, the college completed the first of the new residences, opening facilities at its Pictou campus in Stellarton and the Akerly campus in Dartmouth. Those projects were announced along with the Ivany campus project in November 2022 with a commitment of $112 million in funding from the provincial government.

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In November 2023, four more projects were announced for the campuses in Springhill, Kentville, Bridgewater and at the Institute of Technology campus in Halifax, that will add 270 more beds and bring the total number of announced new housing spaces to 618.

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“These four are at various stages of development … and the exact timelines for the first one will be announced this fall,” Bureaux said. “They are not going to be built in parallel, there will be one built and then they will be built sequentially.”

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Minister of Advanced Education Brendan Maguire said the new beds at the community college are also a help for the province’s overall housing plan.

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“They are not just supporting NSCC but are supporting housing right across the province,” said Maguire. “It frees up critical housing stock for all Nova Scotians during the time they need it most.”

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There are 2,537 students currently enrolled at the Ivany campus and a total of 11,052 students were enrolled at NSCCs 13 campuses as of last fall.

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In a news release, Suzy Hansen, the Opposition NDP housing critic, said while any new student housing is welcome, the province is “still far behind where it needs to be.”

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“Right now, rent is unaffordable and home ownership remains out of reach for far too many young people in Nova Scotia,” said Hansen. “We need bold public investment and real protections for renters, as well as a dedicated minister focused solely on housing.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.

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