Halifax By-Law R-400 Rental Registration for Landlords
Every Halifax Rental Must Be Registered
If you own a residential rental property within the Halifax Regional Municipality, By-Law R-400 requires you to register it. The by-law took effect June 12, 2023, and required rental housing to be registered on or after April 1, 2024. If you have not registered, you are already in violation.
Registration itself is free and one-time through the HRM Residential Rental Registry. There is no annual renewal fee. But the obligations that come with registration are ongoing.
What By-Law R-400 Requires
Registration. All rental housing in HRM must be registered, except property licensed under the provincial Homes for Special Care Act and owner-occupied dwelling units within a land-leased community. This applies to apartments, houses, condos, secondary suites, and other residential property rented out.
Maintenance plan. Under Section 8 of the by-law, registered property owners must maintain a current maintenance plan compliant with By-Law M-200 (Minimum Housing Standards). You must produce this plan within 7 days if an inspector requests it.
Compliance. The property must meet municipal housing standards. Inspectors can investigate complaints and issue orders for non-compliant conditions.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
HRM can impose municipal fines on landlords who fail to register or maintain their property to the required standard. These are municipal penalties administered by the city, not by the provincial Residential Tenancies Program.
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How R-400 Interacts With the RTA
By-Law R-400 creates municipal registration and maintenance obligations alongside the provincial Residential Tenancies Act. R-400 covers municipal registration and property standards; the RTA governs tenancy terms and terminations. A property-standard issue can also affect a landlord's obligations under the RTA.
- R-400 does not give the municipality power over tenancy terminations, rent, or lease terms. Those remain under the exclusive jurisdiction of the RTA and the Residential Tenancies Program.
- R-400 does not create its own Notice to Quit or tenancy termination process; those are governed by the RTA.
- However, a tenant could raise municipal non-compliance as context in a Residential Tenancies hearing, and it may affect the Officer's view of the landlord's overall conduct.
Outside HRM
There is currently no province-wide landlord licensing registry in Nova Scotia. Landlords in rural Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, the Annapolis Valley, and other regions outside HRM are governed by the provincial Residential Tenancies Act alone, without any municipal registration layer.
Stay Compliant Across Both Systems
The Ending a Tenancy in Nova Scotia guide covers both the provincial RTA tenancy-termination process and the HRM registration requirements, so Halifax landlords understand where municipal rules end and provincial tenancy law begins.
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Download the Nova Scotia Ending a Tenancy Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.