This article is about the Nova Scotia regional municipality. For information about the community of Halifax [1] , please see Halifax, Nova Scotia (former city), or see Halifax (disambiguation) for other articles.

Halifax Regional Municipality (2001 pop.: 359,111) and 2006 pop estimated at 385,000, commonly referred to as HRM, is a Canadian regional municipality, the largest population centre in both the Province of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic region, the provincial capital, and a major economic centre of Canada's east coast.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Education
4 Economy
5 Culture
6 Sport
7 Media
8 Government
9 Transportation
10 Buildings and structures
11 Demographics
- 11.1 Ethnic origins
- 11.2 Religious belief
12 Neighbourhoods and communities
13 Major parks
14 Consular representation in Halifax
15 Notable persons born in or from the Halifax Regional Municipality
16 See also
17 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of the Halifax Regional Municipality

The Halifax Regional Municipality is one of the newest municipalities in the province, in terms of date of incorporation, therefore most of its history relates to the issues relating to municipal amalgamation.

HRM was formed on April 1, 1996 by dissolving and amalgamating the following municipalities:

All municipal services and most of the staff were merged into the new municipal unit. The awkward name of the municipality was quickly shortened by media, residents and politicians to the acronym "HRM," which is commonly heard.

The regional municipality's boundary includes all of Halifax County except for several First Nation reserves. Statistics Canada has HRM as a census subdivision and Halifax County as a census division, despite the fact that both geographic areas differ by only several dozen hectares.However Statistics Canada still have census formerly for the communities of Bedford , Dartmouth and Halifax but lists them as "Dissolved (community(ies) having undergone an amalgamation/dissolution) ".[2]

All of the 188 rural and urban communities (including the formerly incorporated municipalities of Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford) within Halifax County have retained their geographic names for legal, mapping, mail, 9-1-1, planning and other services; several communities or neighbourhoods which were amalgmated by the former constituent municipalities in previous decades are starting to see their names gain increased use. The municipality also still retained the street names even though there are 3 to 5 separate streets and roads with the same name but in a different community. [3]

[edit] Geography

Main article: Geography of the Halifax Regional Municipality

The Town Clock and central business district facing east from Citadel Hill.

The Halifax Regional Municipality occupies an area of 5,577 km² [4], comparative to the province of Prince Edward Island, and measures approximately 165 km in length between its eastern and western-most extremities.

The coastline is heavily indented, accounting for its length of approximately 400 km, with the northern boundary usually being between 50-60 km inland. The coast is mostly rock with small isolated sand beaches in sheltered bays. The largest bays include St. Margaret's Bay, Halifax Harbour/Bedford Basin, Cole Harbour, Musquodoboit Harbour, Jeddore Harbour, Ship Harbour, Sheet Harbour, and Ecum Secum Harbour. The municipalities topography ranges from lush farmland in the Musquodoboit Valley to rocky and heavily forested rolling hills.

The urban core area of HRM is located in the western end of the municipality, fronting on Halifax Harbour in the Halifax - Dartmouth and Bedford area and constitutes the most populous urban area on Canada's Atlantic coast, and the second largest coastal population centre in the country, after Vancouver, British Columbia. HRM currently accounts for 40% of Nova Scotia's population, and 15% of that of the Atlantic provinces. The western and eastern parts of the municipality are rural.

HRM's climate is heavily influenced by its location on Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast. The weather is usually milder or cooler than that of central Canada, with the temperature remaining (with occasional notable exceptions) between about -5°C (23°F) and 28°C (80°F) inland but the coast can be milder in the winter and cooler in the summer with the maritime influence.

[edit] Education

Main article: Education in the Halifax Regional Municipality

The Halifax Regional Municipality has a well-developed network of public and private schools, providing instruction from primary to grade 12; 150 public schools are administered by the Halifax Regional School Board as well as 3 public schools administered by the Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial, whereas the 14 private schools are operated independently.

The municipality is also home to the following post-secondary educational institutions: Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, University of King's College, Atlantic School of Theology, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Mount Saint Vincent University, and the Nova Scotia Community College.

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of the Halifax Regional Municipality

Image:Acadie Sails Halifax 2004.jpg

The Halifax Regional Municipality is a major economic centre in eastern Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defence, as well as the Port of Halifax. The municipality has a growing concentration of manufacturing industries and is becoming a major multi-modal transportation hub through growth at the port, the Halifax International Airport, and improving rail and highway connections. A real estate boom in recent years has led to numerous new property developments, including the gentrification of some former working-class areas.

[edit] Culture

Main article: Culture of the Halifax Regional Municipality

Image:Halifaxsmallfrombridge.jpg

The Halifax Regional Municipality's urban core is the highest population centre in Atlantic Canada and is the major cultural centre within the region. The municipality's urban core also benefits from a large population of post-secondary students who strongly influence the local cultural scene. HRM has a number of art galleries, theatres and museums, as well as most of the region's national-quality sports and entertainment facilities. The region is noted for the strength of its music scene. HRM has also become a significant film-production centre, with many American and Canadian filmmakers using the city's streetscapes, often to stand in for other cities that are more expensive to work in.

Halifax is a sister city of Halifax, England, Hakodate, Japan (1982), and Norfolk, Virginia (April 27, 2006).

[edit] Sport

Main article: Sports in the Halifax Regional Municipality

The Halifax Regional Municipality is home to a number of outdoor recreational opportunities, including numerous ocean and lake beaches, as well as rural and urban parks. The municipality has a host of organized community intramural sports, as well as varsity and intramural sports offered by public schools and post-secondary institutions and has extensive facilities.

The region is home to several professional and semi-professional sport franchises, such as the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, as well as a newly-announced American Basketball Association team. (See also: Sports teams in the Halifax Regional Municipality)

The region has also hosted several major sporting events, including the 2003 World Junior Hockey Championship, 2003 Nokia Brier, the 2004 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships, and the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. Since 1984, the city has been home to the CIS Men's Basketball Championship.

Halifax has considered lobbying to have a CFL team located in the area, though the proposal has never been formally endorsed by the municipal or provincial governments. HRM is also vying for the 2014 Commonwealth Games as Canada's official bid municipality.

[edit] Media

Main article: Media in the Halifax Regional Municipality

HRM is the Maritimes' centre for broadcast and print media. CBC, CTV and Global Television all have regional television hubs in the Halifax area. There are also regional hubs for CBC Radio, Rogers Radio and various private broadcast franchises, as well as a regional bureau for the Canadian Press/Broadcast News. Several newspapers publish in the HRM, including the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, the Halifax Daily News, and The Coast.

[edit] Government

Main article: Government in the Halifax Regional Municipality

The Halifax Regional Municipality is governed by a mayor (elected at large) and a twenty-three person council, who are elected by geographic district; municipal elections occur every leap year. HRM has established "community councils" where three or more councilors agree to form these councils to deal primarily with local development issues. Most community council decisions are subject to final approval by regional council.

The Halifax Regional Council is responsible for all facets of municipal government, including the Halifax Regional Police, Halifax Public Libraries, Halifax Fire and Emergency, Halifax Regional Water Commission, parks and recreation, public works, waste management, and planning and development.

[edit] Transportation

Main article: Transportation in the Halifax Regional Municipality

The Halifax Regional Municipality is well-served by all modes of transportation.

Halifax Harbour is a major Canadian port used by numerous shipping lines, as well as the navy and coast guard and hosts a public ferry service connecting the urban core. The Halifax Port Authority's various shipping terminals constitute the eastern terminus of Canadian National Railway's transcontinental network. VIA Rail Canada also provides daily overnight passenger rail service to Montreal.

Halifax International Airport serves HRM and most of the province, providing scheduled flights to domestic and international destinations. CFB Shearwater, an air force base, is located in the urban core on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour but is presently being decommissioned for fixed-wing aircraft.

The municipality's urban core is linked by the Angus L. Macdonald and A. Murray MacKay suspension bridges, as well as an extensive network of 100-series highways which function as expressways. The Armdale traffic circle is a notorious choke point for vehicle movement in the western part of the urban core, usually at rush hour.

The urban core of HRM is served by Metro Transit, which operates standard bus routes, bus-rapid transit routes, as well as the pedestrian-only harbour ferries. Established in 1752, the city's ferry service is the oldest continuously running salt water ferry service in North America. [5]

[edit] Buildings and structures

Main article: Buildings and structures in the Halifax Regional Municipality

HRM's urban core has a higher proportion of historic buildings compared with other municipalities in Canada. Preservationists and heritage advocacy organizations have attempted to prevent their demolition by developers in recent decades. Such groups have been criticized for stunting the centralization of urban growth and for stopping buildings from being built on empty land containing little to no historic value.

The urban core is home to several modern office buildings, however the waterfront of the Halifax Peninsula is governed by height restrictions which prevent buildings from obstructing the sight line between Citadel Hill and Halifax Harbour and Georges Island. This has resulted in modern high rises being built in unusual locations.

[edit] Demographics

The Halifax Regional Municipality is comprised of 359,111 residents (2001 census). Approximately 18% of the population is under the age of 14, while 11% are 65 and older.

[edit] Ethnic origins

Ethnic Origin	Population	Percent
Canadian	160,005	44.95%
English	109,665	30.81%
Scottish	96,305	27.06%
Irish	79,835	22.43%
French	58,965	16.57%
German	37,865	10.64%
Dutch (Netherlands)	13,295	3.74%
North American Indian	9,495	2.67%
Welsh	6,135	1.72%
Italian	4,890	1.37%
African, not included elsewhere	4,435	1.25%
Polish	4.005	1.13%
Lebanese	3,995	1.12%
Ukrainian	3,580	1.01%
Acadian	3,560	1.00%

The information regarding ethnicities at the right is from the 2001 Canadian Census. The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian".) Groups with greater than 3,000 responses are included.

[edit] Religious belief

Protestant 45.38%
Catholic 37.23%
Other Christian 1.40%
Muslim 0.86%
Christian Orthodox 0.79%
Jewish 0.44%
Buddhist 0.42%
Hindu 0.27%
Sikh 0.05%
Eastern Religions 0.10%
Other religions 0.17%
No declared religious affiliation 12.90%

[edit] Neighbourhoods and communities

Main article: Communities in the Halifax Regional Municipality

The Halifax Regional Municipality has a composition of neighbourhoods and communities unlike other municipalities such as a city in that it is an amalgamation of urban and rural areas. The urban core of HRM is a term used to roughly describe the urban concentration surrounding Halifax Harbour in the western part of the municipality, and includes the Halifax Metropolitan Area, the Dartmouth Metropolitan Area, and the Bedford-Sackville areas.

Rural areas lie to the east, west and north of this urban core. Certain rural communities on the urban fringe function as suburban or exurban areas, with the majority of those residents working in the urban core. Farther away, rural communities in HRM function much as any resource-based area in Nova Scotia, being sparsely populated, with their local economies developing around four major resource industries: agriculture, fishing, mining and forestry. It should be noted that the tourism industry is beginning to change how some rural communities in HRM function, particularly in coastal areas such as Hubbards, Peggys Cove and Lawrencetown.

[edit] Major parks

Main article: List of parks in the Halifax Regional Municipality

Point Pleasant Park, a popular forested seaside park on peninsular Halifax.

[edit] Consular representation in Halifax

Austria, Michael Novac
Barbados, Barbara Miller-Manning And Arthur R. Donahoe
Belgium, Patrick Philips
Brazil, Jose Carlos Pena Vila
Denmark, Harry Isaac Mathers
Finland, Frank Metcalf
France, Dominique Henry And Theresa Goora
Germany, Anthony L. Chapman
Iceland, John Risely
Italy, Rodolfo Meloni
Japan, Mark J. Surrette
Lebanon, Wadih M. Fares
Lesotho, David J. Bright
Mexico, Galo Carrera
Netherlands, Peter L. McCreath
Norway, Steiner J. Engeset
Portugal, Victor de Carvahlo
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Vincent Patrick Audain
Spain, Louis Holmes
Sweden, George Cooper
Switzerland, Ruedi Meier
Trinidad and Tobago, Guy Osberg
United Kingdom, Alfred Smithers
United States Of America, Leonard Hill (Consul-General)

[edit] Notable persons born in or from the Halifax Regional Municipality

Further information: List of notable Halifax Regional Municipality people

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Image:Flag of Nova Scotia.svg	Nova Scotia
Counties	Annapolis - Antigonish - Cape Breton - Colchester - Cumberland - Digby - Guysborough - Halifax - Hants - Inverness - Kings - Lunenburg - Pictou - Queens - Richmond - Shelburne - Victoria - Yarmouth
Regional Municipalities	Cape Breton - Halifax - Queens
Incorporated Towns	Amherst - Annapolis Royal - Antigonish - Berwick - Bridgetown - Bridgewater - Canso - Clark's Harbour - Digby - Hantsport - Kentville - Lockeport - Lunenburg - Mahone Bay - Middleton - Mulgrave - New Glasgow - Oxford - Parrsboro - Pictou - Port Hawkesbury - Shelburne - Springhill - Stellarton - Stewiacke - Trenton - Truro - Westville - Windsor - Wolfville - Yarmouth
Other Communities	Bedford - Bible Hill - Cole Harbour - Dartmouth - Dominion - Eastern Passage - Fall River - Glace Bay - Greenwood - Halifax (former city) - Liverpool - Louisbourg - Lower Sackville - New Minas - New Waterford - North Sydney - Sydney - Sydney Mines - Weymouth