BILL NO. 77
(as introduced)
1st Session, 65th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
3 Charles III, 2025
Private Member's Public Bill
Residential Tenancies Act
(amended)
Susan Leblanc
Dartmouth North
First Reading: March 7, 2025
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
Explanatory Note
This Bill amends the Residential Tenancies Act to provide that if a tenant terminates a lease due to domestic violence, the landlord is required to enter into a new lease with that tenant and any other previous tenants specified by the tenant, on the same terms as the previous lease. The landlord is also required to change the locks on the residential premises.
An Act to Amend Chapter 401
of the Revised Statutes, 1989,
the Residential Tenancies Act,
Respecting Early Termination for Domestic Violence
Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 Subsection 10F(4) of Chapter 401 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Residential Tenancies Act, is repealed and the following subsections substituted:
- (4) Where a tenancy is terminated pursuant to subsection (1),
(a) the tenancy is terminated for all tenants; and
(b) where the tenant terminating the tenancy so requests, the landlord shall
- (i) enter a new landlord and tenant relationship with that tenant and with such other previous tenants as that tenant specifies and who agree to enter the new landlord and tenant relationship, and
(ii) in consultation with the tenant or tenants entering the new landlord and tenant relationship, change the locks on the residential premises.
(5) The landlord tenant relationship entered into under subclause (4)(b)(i) must be on the same terms as the tenancy that was terminated under subsection (1) and is deemed to have been entered into on the date that the tenancy that was terminated under subsection (1) was entered into.
(6) For greater certainty, where the a tenancy is terminated pursuant to subsection (1) and no request is made under clause (4)(b) by the tenant terminating the tenancy, the other tenants and the landlord may agree to enter a new landlord and tenant relationship.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2025 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created March 7, 2025. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
