Abstract

Canada faces overlapping crises in both accelerating climate change impacts and the diminishing availability of affordable housing. As governments at all levels respond to these challenges, a critical gap has emerged in our understanding of how different forms of housing tenure are being integrated into Canadian climate adaptation governance, and how decisions around equity and social vulnerability are factored into planning and policy processes. This thesis examines how adaptation plans and policies in Nova Scotia are integrating the needs of the non-profit co-operative housing sector into climate adaptation and assesses the adaptation readiness of housing co-operatives in the province. Two methods are employed: a systematic content analysis of municipal and provincial climate policy documents, and interviews with key informants across the co-operative housing sector and government agencies. Analysis is structured around a modified adaptation readiness framework which includes measures for equity, justice, and inclusion, and considers the potential for transformational adaptation which prompts systemic change and addresses the root causes of social vulnerability. Findings indicate that non-market forms of tenure, including co-operative housing, are largely neglected in adaptation policy and planning for NS. Several barriers which contribute to an overall low level of adaptation readiness for co-ops are highlighted, notably a lack of usable science and funding to facilitate adaptation. There are characteristics which position housing co-ops to be agents of transformational change at the intersection of housing systems and adaptation, as evidenced by emerging models of decommodified development, a propensity for participatory collective action, and professional and grassroots co-operative leadership which is willing to engage with the challenge of climate change. This potential will only be realized if key barriers are overcome through explicit attention to non-profit housing and social justice by adaptation planners and state policymakers.