Nova Scotia municipalities differ on how to handle people in RVs

Shaun Allen walks by a pair of rain barrels and the grassy lawn he seeded by hand, and rounds the corner of his rural Queens County home: an 11.5-metre recreational vehicle.

"This is my little piece of paradise," Allen said in a recent interview. "Just like a pioneer in the olden days, that's how I feel."

Allen is among a growing number of Nova Scotians turning to RVs or travel trailers as permanent housing. As rents have spiked amid a shortage of accommodations, some have found getting an RV and either buying or renting land is their only affordable option — and better than a tent.

But there's a patchwork of rules across the province, and municipalities differ on whether it's legal to allow them permanently at all.

Allen and his teenage son have been living in the 2016 RV in East Port Medway for the past year, since he said he was priced out of renting in the Bridgewater area. He's also been on the South Shore waitlist for public housing for four years.

His $500 rent for the property includes power, and with income assistance and a part-time job, he said his quality of life has greatly improved.

"I'm starting to be able to save money and do things to make my life a little bit nicer instead of just living day to day and week to week," Allen said.

The Region of Queens Municipality allows RVs permanently in his area if they meet certain rules, and its policy states "council does not wish to be overly onerous on their use."

But this is unusual in the province. Many municipalities, especially towns and urban centres, have rules against living in RVs for more than a few weeks. Rural areas often allow them for camping, or don't have specific rules about them at all.

Bylaw enforcement is usually complaint-based, so whether someone gets to stay in an RV might depend on their neighbours — which Allen said creates an unfair system.

"I know people who are living in an RV nearby like mine, on their own land, and they're getting bugged about it, which is not right," he said.

Mary Wagner and her husband have been in their RV on family land in Upper Northfield, within the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, for two years. There aren't rules against RV living in their area, and the municipality has even granted them a civic number.

Facebook group on RV living includes thousands 

Wagner created a full-time RV living Facebook page for Nova Scotians to share tips and ask questions, which she said now sits at nearly 3,000 members.

Although her family made the choice to leave a home and mortgage for an RV, Wagner said they're not the norm within the group. She said the vast majority of people post that an RV is their only option.

The patchwork of rules, combined with no year-round campgrounds in Nova Scotia, regularly leads to confusion, she said.

"The biggest problem that I know people say is 'where can I park?'" Wagner said, adding that she sees people about two to three times a month posting that they've been told to move their RV.

Halifax staff are studying whether to allow RVs for residential use, and exploring whether to repeat a pilot project in which a dozen RVs wintered last year at Shubie Campground in Dartmouth.

The Halifax municipality treats complaints about RVs on a "case-by-case basis," a spokesperson said.

Max Chauvin, the city's director of housing and homelessness, said they know of at least 20 people around the region in RVs but there are likely far more. He's seen situations where someone has complained about a neighbouring RV, but when the city investigates they find out the landowner is aware and happy to leave them alone.

"And so that's the end of that conversation for that part, other than we keep doing outreach," Chauvin said, like offering those in the RV access to services or help finding other housing.

But staff with the Municipality of the County of Kings told councillors last November that even if a bylaw allowed it, RVs aren't considered dwellings under provincial and federal building and fire codes.

"They are unsafe for year-round occupancy," said Trish Javorek, Kings' director of planning and inspections. "Both those acts require us to enforce."

Back in Queens County, Allen said he'd like the province to change legislation to consider modern RVs as permanent dwellings. He said new models are just as comfortable and safe as — if not safer than — mobile homes or rundown apartment buildings.

While Wagner said she's not sure creating more regulations is the way to go, she agreed that governments shouldn't put up roadblocks for those in RVs on their own land, or where they have permission.

"They should be helping these people to do what they have to do, to put a roof over their head so that they can feed themselves, and feed their families, and still go to work," Wagner said.

Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, mayor of the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg and president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, said while every municipality is different, most try to work with people in RVs so they don't become homeless.

Bolivar-Getson said more affordable and public housing is badly needed, and recent provincial investments in that area are welcome but will take time to build. She said creative housing options like RVs are the reality as a "stopgap" now.

While she hasn't yet spoken with the province about changing legislation to regulate RVs as permanent dwellings, or creating an exemption to streamline rules across Nova Scotia, she said it's definitely worth exploring.

The province is having regular conversations with Halifax and other municipalities about how to support people experiencing homelessness and they will "continue to look at options to meet people's unique needs," said Heather Fairbairn, spokesperson for the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

However, she said RVs are only regulated under the Motor Vehicle Act from a registration and road safety perspective. 

"They are not considered under the building code as they do not meet the standards for a home," she said.