Nova Scotia moves forward with plan for municipalities to protect coastlines

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This article was published 15/04/2025 (532 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government is offering municipalities a blueprint on how they can protect the province’s 13,000 kilometres of coastline.

Environment Minister Tim Halman was in Sydney, N.S., Tuesday where he announced a new website link with examples of bylaws and other regulations municipalities can use to prevent coastal erosion.

It follows the Progressive Conservatives’ refusal to put into force a 2019 law adopted by the previous Liberal government that would have required the provincial government to manage coastal protection.

The government’s choice last year to abandon the legislation has drawn criticism from some property owners, environmentalists and some smaller municipalities who say they don’t have the resources to deal with coastal issues on their own.

Still, the government wants the province’s municipalities to draft their own bylaws that define where coastal regulations would apply, set minimum building elevation, and create buffer zones to protect infrastructure from erosion.

The minister also announced more than $1.3 million for the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities to hire a climate change policy analyst and help its 49 members create their own bylaws.

“Municipalities have told the province they need resources for the example bylaws and we’ve delivered on that commitment,” Halman said in an interview. “We’ve arrived at these supports through engagement and consultation with the municipalities.”

The Progressive Conservatives promised to offer examples of bylaws when they confirmed in February 2024 that they would not proclaim the Liberals’ 2019 Coastal Protection Act and announced their own coastal protection strategy.

“We trust our municipalities, this is their jurisdiction,” said Halman, who added the province would brief municipal officials on Wednesday about how to move ahead in enacting the bylaws.

The new government support measures announced Tuesday were welcomed by federation CEO Juanita Spencer, who said the sample texts and staff support would help municipalities. “This is a positive development that will support land-use planning in coastal areas,” Spencer said in a provincial government news release.

She said the funding would help protect the “physical and financial health of residents and communities.”

Halman also announced more information that property owners can access on his department’s Coastal Climate Change website, including a coastal hazard assessment report and a guide on how to use trees, plants and other natural techniques to protect properties from erosion and rising sea levels.

As well, the minister said the coastal hazard mapping tool that was launched last year to show possible coastal flooding up to the year 2100, has been updated to include information for the current year and for the year 2050, along with areas of potential coastal flooding beyond 100 metres inland from the coastline

A checklist and education video to aid real estate agents about buying coastal property has also been included.

In a statement, Opposition NDP Leader Claudia Chender welcomed the support but said it is only needed because the province is downloading onto municipalities work it should be doing.

“Coastal protection demands a provincewide approach, not patchwork regulations that leave communities vulnerable,” said Chender, who added that her party will keep pressing for a “provincewide, province-led solution to coastal protection.”

 This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2025.