National Housing Day 2026

November 19, 2026
Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel

at a glance – National Housing Day 2025

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Building Nova Scotia: What Will It Take? National Housing Day Summit 2026

Last year’s National Housing Day Summit marked a major milestone in Nova Scotia’s ongoing efforts to address the housing crisis. Hosted in Halifax by Habitat for Humanity Nova Scotia in partnership with Canadian Home Builders’ Association of Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS®, the inaugural summit brought together more than 200 leaders, industry professionals, government representatives, housing advocates, and community partners for a full day of meaningful discussion, collaboration, and solution-focused dialogue.

Centred on the theme “From Barriers to Blueprints,” the summit provided an important platform for some of the province’s most influential housing voices to examine the challenges facing Nova Scotians and explore practical, scalable solutions to improve housing affordability and accessibility. Attendees heard from respected experts and changemakers from across Canada, including leaders in housing development, policy, and advocacy, who shared innovative ideas and successful models that could help shape the future of housing in Nova Scotia.

Throughout the event, conversations focused on overcoming barriers to attainable housing, accelerating housing development, strengthening partnerships between government and industry, and advancing innovative approaches to affordable homeownership. The summit fostered a strong spirit of collaboration and highlighted the growing momentum behind collective action in the housing sector. Participants left energized, informed, and united by a shared commitment to creating stronger, more inclusive communities across the province.

The overwhelming success of the inaugural summit reinforced the importance of bringing diverse sectors together to tackle one of the most pressing issues facing Canadians today. More than just a conference, National Housing Day became a catalyst for continued conversation, partnership, and advocacy, demonstrating that when organizations, industry leaders, and communities work together, meaningful progress toward affordable housing solutions is possible.

Now entering its second year, the National Housing Day Summit continues to build on that momentum. The 2026 event will once again bring together leaders from across the housing sector to advance important conversations, strengthen partnerships, and explore innovative solutions that support housing supply, affordability, and attainable homeownership in Nova Scotia. As the housing landscape continues to evolve, the summit remains committed to creating a collaborative space where ideas can be shared, relationships can be strengthened, and meaningful action can take shape.

Agenda

8:00–9:00 – Registration, Networking Breakfast & Exhibitor Marketplace
Registration, breakfast, networking, exhibitors
9:00–9:15 – Welcome & Opening Remarks
Habitat for Humanity Nova Scotia, Canadian Home Builders’ Association Nova Scotia, East Coast Credit Union, Hon. Minister John White
9:15–9:55 – The State of Housing in Nova Scotia
The State of Housing in Nova Scotia will provide a data-driven look at current housing conditions across the province, highlighting key trends, pressures, and challenges shaping housing supply and residential construction.Speaker: Kelvin Ndoro, Lead Economist, CMHC Housing Economics and Insights
9:55–10:25 – Building Supply: What is Preventing More Homes from Being Built?
Panel facilitated by Roxanne Tate (Tate Engineering), Justin Johnston (All-Craft), The Shaw Group, Eric Burchill (DORA Construction), Chris Marchand (Ramar Homes & CHBA NS President), Roger Boutilier (NSAR)
10:25–10:40 – Networking Break
10:40-11:00 – Building Capacity: Busy Is Broken
Busy Is Broken explores how distraction, interruption, and task-switching quietly reduce workforce capacity. This practical, research-backed session will show how individuals and leaders can protect focus, recover productive time, and get more from the workforce they already have.Presented by Jonathan Brett
11:00–11:15 – Building the Workforce: Capacity for Housing
This session will explore the workforce capacity needed to meet Nova Scotia’s housing goals, including the skilled trades, training pathways, recruitment, and workforce development required to support current and future residential construction.Presentation by Jessica Ward (Housing Construction Council of Nova Scotia)
11:15–11:55 –Building Solutions Together: From Barriers to Action Workshop
This interactive workshop will bring participants together to identify key barriers to increasing housing supply, explore practical solutions, and define actions that can begin now and over the next five years. The session will focus on collaboration, shared responsibility, and the organizations and resources needed to move ideas into action.Roxanne Tate (Tate Engineering)
11:55–12:45 – Networking Lunch
12:45–1:25 – Building Homeownership
What it will take to scale affordable and non-market homeownership — including patient capital, blended funding with grants, new partnership models, built form innovation and how the various sectors need to change together.Pedro Barata (Habitat for Humanity Canada)
1:25–2:05 – Building Feasibility
Mike Collins-Williams will explore what it takes for an approved housing project to become homes people can live in. Drawing on his experience as an urban planner and CEO of the West End Home Builders’ Association, he can explain how construction costs, financing, development charges, infrastructure capacity, and approval timelines affect whether a project can move forward. The session will connect those decisions to the choices governments and industry can make to support housing delivery in Nova Scotia.Mike Collins-Williams (West End Home Builders’ Association & Registered Professional Planner)
2:05–2:15 – Refreshment Break
2:15–2:50 – Building Smarter: AI and the Future of Housing
How can AI help residential construction businesses work smarter today? This session will explore practical ways to use emerging technology to save time, improve everyday processes and make better use of business data. It will also look ahead at how these tools could change the way homes are planned, built and delivered.Michael DeVenney (WorkInsights)
2:50–3:50 – Building Together: From Conversation to Commitment
This closing session will bring the day’s key ideas together, identify shared priorities, and move the conversation toward action. Participants will be invited to consider where they can contribute and what commitments can help advance housing solutions across Nova Scotia.Facilitator: Roxanne Tate (Tate Engineering)
3:50–4:00 – Closing Remarks & Building Nova Scotia Action Report
The Summit will close by outlining the next steps for the Building Nova Scotia Action Report, which will capture the day’s key themes, priorities, recommendations and commitments and carry the conversation forward beyond the event.