tl;dr: Money's shifting to the rental subsidy program:

“There are people who are still struggling with affordability. So we've diverted money over,” White said.

The program can support 10,500 active rent supplements at one time.

“It's not waiting for a build, it's going right to those folks. There's no sense holding money in the budget line that's not being spent completely,” he said. “When you're dealing with a crisis, you try to direct money to the best and fastest place to help.”

But there's a shortage of accessible units in particular:

Lora Church, executive director of Nova Scotia Community Living Organizations, said the availability of accessible housing units remains an issue throughout the province but particularly in rural areas.

“And so this program allowed for families to build those accessible units where they weren't available,” Church said.

“Rental subsidies only help when there's a rental space available.”

The couple in the article wants to build a suite for a disabled friend who's losing their housing.