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Work to build more than 1,400 new homes across Nova Scotia – about two-thirds at Shannon Park in Dartmouth – will soon begin with funding from the Province and the federal government.

Housing Minister John White and federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Gregor Robertson announced $300 million to build 1,430 new homes today, December 14, at Shannon Park Elementary School; 930 new homes will be located in that area.

“There is no province better positioned than Nova Scotia to work with the federal government on Build Canada Homes. Our government has a proven track record and strong success in delivering housing projects, faster,” said Minister White. “With barriers removed and the construction sector built up, we are ready to get to work to build homes for people and families.”

Nova Scotia is one of the first provinces in the country to have agreed to terms under the new federal Build Canada Homes agency.

This joint funding from the federal and provincial governments’ includes:

• 930 units at Shannon Park, 300 located on provincial land and 630 on federal, which include public and supportive housing, with funding from the Province ensuring affordability for at least 10 years; a new school is also planned for the area
• 500 units of non-profit and community housing across the province.

To support the project and accelerate development of affordable housing at Shannon Park, the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) will fast-track the development approval processes and, subject to council approval, will reduce or waive municipal development fees, provide relief from property taxes or other grant offerings in support of an affordable housing project for Phase 1 in Shannon Park.

The project will be completed in phases over several years, with shovels in the ground expected in 2026.

Quotes:

“This partnership between the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together to tackle the housing crisis head-on. By combining federal and provincial resources, we’re not only accelerating the delivery of hundreds of homes at Shannon Park, but we’re also creating a community with schools, child care and supports that families need to thrive. This is a model for collaboration that will make life more affordable and strengthen communities across Nova Scotia.”
— Gregor Robertson, federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure

Quick Facts:

• under the agreement, the Province is contributing $180 million and the federal government $120 million
• the Government of Canada launched the Build Canada Homes, a new federal agency with the mandate to scale up the supply of affordable housing across Canada
• by leveraging public lands, deploying flexible financial tools, and acting as a catalyst for modern methods of construction, Build Canada Homes is driving a more productive and innovative homebuilding sector
• working in partnership with non-profits, Indigenous organizations, private developers, and all orders of government, Build Canada Homes is accelerating the delivery of housing Canadians need — faster, smarter, and more affordable
• since the Province’s housing plan was released in October 2023, 14,667 new housing units have been created or are in progress and the conditions have been created to pave the way for another 54,174 units for a total of 68,841, well above the goal of 40,000 units by 2028

Additional Resources:

The Province’s five-year housing plan, Our Homes, Action for Housing: https://novascotia.ca/action-for-housing/

News release – Three New Replacement Schools in HRM: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2024/10/25/three-new-replacement-schools-hrm

The UK’s largest listed companies have been warned against using “boilerplate” arguments to justify big executive pay increases by an influential group of shareholders.

The Investment Association (IA) – whose members manage £10tn of assets – has told pay committees to avoid “benchmarking”: where companies argue higher pay is needed in order to match rivals and avoid bosses jumping ship for larger salaries and bonuses elsewhere.

The IA – whose members include Schroders, Legal & General and Aviva – used its annual letter to London-listed companies to say that the “use of benchmarking on its own to justify increases in remuneration is not appropriate, as it can lead to a ratchet effect in the market”.

It stopped short of naming any individual company but said it expected “well-substantiated” rationales for pay rises from remuneration committees.

“To date, members have observed that some rationale disclosures have not met this expectation, with remuneration committees using boilerplate and generic justifications, often citing ‘competitiveness against peers’ or the need to ‘attract and retain talent’ without any further supporting information,” the letter said.

“Where benchmarking suggests a large increase in pay purely to ‘catch up’ to a market percentile, remuneration committees should assess whether that is genuinely in shareholders’ interests and be prepared to explain reasoning beyond “market practice.”

The IA added that – as the biggest 350 listed companies prepare their annual reports in the run-up to the spring shareholder meeting season – the most important factor was that they demonstrate a “strong link between pay and performance”.

It comes despite a campaign to raise executive pay across the UK, with City firms such as the London Stock Exchange claiming it is harming competitiveness and curbing London listings.

The stock exchange chief executive, Julia Hoggett, said last week that UK companies had become more “forceful” about rewarding top executives to compete with international rivals.

“We are talking about being able to attract and make sure we can win in the war for talent so that our companies can have the best leadership to drive the best shareholder value,” she told the Financial Times’s Future of Asset Management Europe conference.

Hoggett’s boss, the London Stock Exchange Group CEO, David Schwimmer, saw his own pay jump to £7.9m in 2024 from £5.4m a year earlier. It came after investors approved an increase in his maximum pay levels from £6.25m to more than £13m, meaning he could take home that sum if he hit all the group’s internal targets.

Median pay for FTSE 100 chief executives jumped 11% to £6.5m last year, faster than the 7.5% rise for US bosses, where median pay is already much higher at $16m, according to data from the proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services.

Andrew Speke, the interim director of the High Pay Centre thinktank, said the IA’s warning over benchmarking was “very welcome”.

He said: “The value a CEO actually creates for their company, and how their pay aligns with the rest of the workforce, should be far more critical factors in determining how much they are paid.”

However, Speke said the IA’s warning would have limited impact. “Benchmarking is so deeply embedded across the FTSE 350 that the guidance may change how remuneration committees describe executive pay increases, without necessarily ending benchmarking in practice.”

While investors’ willingness to challenge pay awards has strengthened in recent years, the thresholds for voting down pay packages and policies remain high. “Ultimately, because these votes are advisory, remuneration committees still have too much power to push ahead with unpopular pay policies regardless of investor concerns,” Speke said.

“Strengthening investors’ ability to actually block inappropriate pay practices remains crucial if we want to see meaningful change.”