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The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) is a major generator of economic activity in Atlantic Canada.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2009) |
The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) is a major generator of economic activity in Atlantic Canada.
The largest employer in HRM is government, with most provincial government departments headquartered in the area, as well as many regional offices for federal government departments and agencies.
The Department of National Defence is the single largest employer and Halifax Harbour continues to serve a major military purpose as the Atlantic Ocean home port for the Royal Canadian Navy. CFB Halifax is Canada's largest naval base and the nation's largest military base in number of personnel. This base comprises various shore-based facilities including HMC Dockyard, Stadacona, CFAD Bedford, and other adjunct facilities throughout HRM and central Nova Scotia. Approximately 2/3 of the navy's major ships are home ported in Halifax. Another major military facility is located at 12 Wing, CFB Shearwater in Eastern Passage. This is the home base of naval aviation in Canada and is used as a heliport for the CH-148 Cyclone.
The largest influence on HRM's economy is its port and related spin-offs. Halifax is one of Canada's top four container ports in terms of the volume of cargo handled. [1] Halifax Harbour is strategically located just north of the Great Circle Route between western Europe and the Eastern Seaboard of North America as the first inbound, last outbound major port of call on the continent with strategic rail connections to central and western Canada and the United States. The Halifax Port Authority operates two major container terminals, a medium-sized oil refinery, numerous general cargo piers and more specialized cargo handling piers for products such as automobiles and bulk gypsum.
Port facilities are also increasingly used for logistics support of offshore natural gas production platforms near Sable Island, and for ongoing oil and gas exploration. The port has a shipyard and the eastern side of the harbour is home to Canadian Coast Guard Base Dartmouth and the internationally renowned Bedford Institute of Oceanography. In recent years, there has been an increase in number of cruise ships through a redeveloped passenger terminal at Pier 21. The port is also the eastern terminus of the transcontinental Canadian National Railway which maintains extensive facilities around the waterfront.
The Halifax Shipyard is one of Canada's most well-equipped, having recently undergone a $300-million modernization to accommodate the building of new combat vessels for the Canadian navy. [2]
Another deep water port is the Sheet Harbour Industrial Port, which mainly serves the offshore and forestry industry in eastern Nova Scotia.
Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of HRM.
The main agriculture area of the Halifax Regional Municipality is the Musquodoboit Valley. The total number of farms in HRM is 150, of which 110 are family-owned, and at the 2001 census there were 3,630 people working in agriculture and resource-based industries in the municipality, out of a total population of 359,111.
Fishing harbours are located along all coastal areas with some having an independent harbour authority, and others being managed by small craft harbours under the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Forestry is most common in the Musquodoboit Valley - Eastern Shore area where there are 21 sawmills.
Other resource industries in HRM include the natural gas fields off the coast of Sable Island, as well as clay, shale, gold, limestone, and gypsum extraction in rural areas of the city.
HRM is a major regional manufacturing centre.
It is an exporter of beer, being home to the Keith's brewery and Oland Brewery as well as several local specialty beers produced in micro-breweries. The aerospace industry has an increasing significance in the regional economy, through engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney Canada, and IMP Aerospace, as well as the increasing passenger and cargo traffic at Halifax International Airport.
With the largest population centre in Atlantic Canada and a geographically central location in Nova Scotia, HRM has witnessed a transformation in its economy during recent decades with the growth of the service sector. The historic home to the Bank of Nova Scotia (branch #1 is located there), the municipality has received an influx of banking and financial service-related employment in recent years. Maritime Life is headquartered in the municipality and many call centres, computer and information technology firms are located in HRM. Halifax is also home to the three largest law firms in Atlantic Canada, McInnes Cooper, Stewart McKelvey, and Cox Palmer.
Halifax also hosts a growing number of Commercial Buildings and Coworking spaces like Regus and The Office coworking space located at 600 Bedford Highway to serve the expanding business community.
The economy of HRM has been relatively strong in the past decade. Growth in public sector employment at all levels of government that far exceeds demographic population growth nationally, coupled with wage and benefits packages that are at least 12% greater than comparative private sector jobs [3] have provided HRM with sustained growth in population and economic activity in recent years. HRM has also benefited from a demographic shift of younger Atlantic Canadians from rural and small town communities to urban centres.
Another important ingredient in HRM's growth has been a major investment in offshore oil and gas exploration, resulting in many high-paying jobs locating to the area. Halifax Harbour was also the staging site for much of the development of the Sable Offshore Energy natural gas project during the late 1990s, as well as somewhat smaller crude oil development projects during the 1970s-1990s.
Unemployment is relatively low (5.9% in July 2010) and is well below both the provincial and national averages. [4]
HRM is also a major communication centre and gateway.
Private sector telecommunication companies Bell Aliant and Eastlink have extensive service in the municipality and offer wire telephone, Internet and television signals.
Rogers Wireless, Bell Canada, and Telus offer cellular telephone service in urban areas and along major transportation corridors.
The communities of Pennant Point, Herring Cove and Beaver Harbour are landing sites for fibre optic Trans-Atlantic cables.
The communities of Harrietsfield and Pennant Point are home to earth stations.
Air Canada Jazz, [5] CanJet, [6] and Maritime Air Charter are headquartered in Enfield and in the Halifax Regional Municipality. [7] [8] [9]
Regional airline Air Nova, which became a part of Air Canada Jazz, was headquartered in Enfield. [10]
Nova Scotia is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolved on 1 August 1995, when it was amalgamated into the regional municipality.
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2022, it is estimated that the population of the Halifax CMA was 480,582, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996: Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and Halifax County.
Country Harbour is a rural community in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The community is situated on a large deep natural harbour of the same name and is located along the province's Eastern Shore close to Canso, Nova Scotia.
Enfield is an urban community located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Halifax Stanfield International Airport in the Shubenacadie Valley on the border of Hants and Halifax counties in Nova Scotia, Canada. Specifically, Enfield exists in both the East Hants Municipal District and Halifax and is divided by the Shubenacadie River.
The Halifax Peninsula is a peninsula within the urban area of the Municipality of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT).
Barrington, officially named the Municipality of the District of Barrington, is a district municipality in western Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Statistics Canada classifies the district municipality as a municipal district.
Shearwater is an unincorporated Nova Scotia suburban community in the Halifax Regional Municipality between Woodside and Eastern Passage occupied by Shearwater heliport. Shearwater is divided into two sections by Main Road, referred to locally as the Upper and Lower Base but part of the same complex. The Upper Base, on the east side of Main Road, houses the airfield and administrative buildings of 12 Wing Shearwater as well as a skate park, pool, gym, and youth centre. The Lower Base, a thin strip between Main Road and Eastern Passage, holds some maintenance buildings, the Atlantic fleet diving unit, training facilities, and a yacht club. Both Bases contain PMQ military housing.
Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbours in the world. Before Confederation it was one of the most important commercial ports on the Atlantic seaboard. In 1917, it was the site of the world's largest man-made accidental explosion, when the SS Mont-Blanc blew up in the Halifax Explosion of December 6.
Downtown Halifax is the primary central business district of the Municipality of Halifax. Located on the central-eastern portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour. Along with Downtown Dartmouth, and other de facto central business districts within the Municipality, Downtown Halifax serves as the business, entertainment, and tourism hub of the region.
The Eastern Shore is a region of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is the Atlantic coast running northeast from Halifax Harbour to the eastern end of the peninsula at the Strait of Canso.
The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in Nova Scotia, Canada has a widely varied geography.
Hosting the region's largest urban population, Halifax, Nova Scotia is an important cultural centre in Atlantic Canada. Halifax is home to a vibrant arts and culture community that enjoys considerable support and participation from the general population. As the largest community and the administrative centre of the Atlantic region since its founding in 1749, Halifax has long-standing tradition of being a cultural generator. While provincial arts and culture policies have tended to distribute investment and support of the arts throughout the province, sometimes to the detriment of more populous Halifax, cultural production in the region is increasingly being recognized for its economic benefits, as well as its purely cultural aspects.
The community of Halifax, Nova Scotia was created on 1 April 1996, when the City of Dartmouth, the City of Halifax, the Town of Bedford, and the County of Halifax amalgamated and formed the Halifax Regional Municipality. The former City of Halifax was dissolved, and transformed into the Community of Halifax within the municipality.
Sheet Harbour is a rural community in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located in the eastern reaches of the Halifax Regional Municipality, approximately 117 km (73 mi) northeast of the central urban area of the municipality, concentrated on Downtown Halifax and Dartmouth. The community is located along the Marine Drive scenic route on Trunk 7 at its junctions with Route 224 and Route 374. Surrounding the branched harbour which its name is derived from, the community has a population of about 800 and its respective census tract, containing sizable amounts of land around the community, has a population of 3,478 as of the 2011 Census. Two rivers, West River and East River, flow through the community and into the Northwest and Northeast Arms of the harbour respectively. The coastline of the community is heavily eroded and the region in which the community is located has an abundance of lakes. The region has a humid continental climate, congruent with the majority of Nova Scotia, and the ocean significantly influences the temperature.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the largest urban population in Atlantic Canada, is a major sporting centre.
Nova Scotia is a province located in Eastern Canada fronting the Atlantic Ocean. One of the Maritime Provinces, Nova Scotia's geography is complex, despite its relatively small size in comparison to other Canadian provinces.
The amalgamation of four municipalities on April 1, 1996, was the creation of the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. It resulted in the regional municipality's current boundaries.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Nova Scotia:
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