Halifax municipality orders veteran to leave RV he calls home

Matthieu Tetreault closes the door of his wood stove and settles back into a chair beside his dog, coffee cup in hand.

He says he's not sure how much longer he'll have moments like this in the addition he built onto his Ford Glendale RV.

The RV sits on his mother's property in Wellington, a rural community just north of Fall River in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Tetreault has been in the RV since this past summer — but after a recent complaint, HRM staff issued him a letter saying the setup contravenes the local land-use bylaw and he has to leave by Feb. 2.

"I would like the HRM to kind of consider not making people homeless," Tetreault said.

"Am I supposed to just get a tent now? Would that be more feasible to them? I don't understand why it's that big a deal, when there's people in worse-off situations than I'm in."

Tetreault served in the navy for about nine years before leaving with a back injury. He now works full time in the construction industry, but he can't afford a place that's also pet-friendly to accommodate his large-breed dog, Harper.

Tetreault said although he understands HRM has bylaws against people living in RVs, there should be some leeway given the ongoing housing crisis. He had his wood stove built to the proper codes, he said, and an inspector with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency signed off on it as a safe heat source.

City spokesperson Brynn Budden said that while a Halifax Fire inspector initially directed that the stove was not to be used, that instruction was later rescinded after receiving additional information from the property owner. Planning staff, who issued the notice for Tetreault to stop living in the RV, were aware of the "initial instruction that the stove was not to be used."

"Safety concerns around the wood stove have been resolved," Budden said.

Tetreault questions why the municipality has ordered him to leave, when more than a dozen people are living in their RVs at the Shubie Campground this winter in a project supported by HRM and the provincial government.

"It's obviously not permanent," Tetreault said about his situation. "Just with the economy, it's a little more difficult to save up to be able to purchase land and move forward."

Many municipalities across Nova Scotia, 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, while the Region of Queens allows RVs permanently in some areas if they meet certain criteria.

Most neighbours have been helpful and supportive of his situation, Tetreault said, some of them dropping off firewood for him.

But at least one complaint about the RV was made to the city, which led to its order on Jan. 3, 2025.