The Halifax Regional Municipality is inviting residents to learn about changes being made to land use plans and by-laws in response to legislation and items of provincial interest from the Province of Nova Scotia.


What is happening?

In August 2024, the province announced new “Minimum Planning Requirements” (MPRs) that specify what must be included in municipal planning strategies in the municipality. These requirements are intended to make sure that the municipality’s planning documents (i.e., plans and by-laws) and approval processes recognize the current housing crisis in the Halifax region and work to support increasing housing supply.

In addition to the MPRs to support housing supply, on March 7, 2025, the province announced further MPRs related to wind turbine setbacks.

The municipality’s land use plans and by-laws must comply with these provincial requirements.

Following a public hearing on June 19, 2025, Regional Council approved the proposed 2025 Regional Plan which had brought forward policies and regulations that would bring the municipality in to compliance of the MPRs.

On Aug. 8, 2025, the municipality received a letter from the Minister of Municipal Affairs in response to the municipality’s submission of the updated Regional Plan, refusing the approval of the planning documents. The provincial refusal means that the current 2014 Regional Plan remains in effect and the municipality’s planning documents do not comply with the Minimum Planning Requirements as required by provincial legislation.

The municipality is bringing forward changes to the current planning framework so that the municipality will be in compliance with provincial legislation and assist in advancing provincial interests. On Oct. 3, 2025, the Minister of Municipal Affairs issued two orders to help address these changes; they are a short-term solution that will allow the municipality the opportunity to complete the work needed to fully enact these changes in municipal legislation while allowing developers the opportunity to move forward on proposed projects.


What is changing?

Following this decision, staff have been working with the province to develop an interim approach to meet the Minimum Planning Requirements and support housing supply. This involves amendments to the 2014 Regional Municipal Planning Strategy (the Regional Plan), secondary municipal planning strategies (Community Plans) and land use by-laws.

Changes being considered have been detailed in a staff report to Regional Council and are summarized below:

  • Changes related to the Minimum Planning Requirements to support housing supply

A series of amendments will be made to address the Minimum Planning Requirements. Click here for more details.

  • Changes to address interim suburban growth

Amendments to Regional Plan policy and to regulations to enable interim development opportunities within the Suburban Area. See MPR (e) in the Summary table.

  • Changes to address provincial Minimum Planning Requirements related to wind turbine setbacks

Amendments to respective land use by-laws to mimic language used in the MPR to address wind turbine setback requirements. See the Summary table.

  • Changes to support site-specific requests

Throughout the Regional Plan review, requests were received from property owners or their representatives for amendments to the Regional Plan for specific properties or areas of land. Amendments to support the following site specific requests are proposed:

    • Lands on Purcells Cove Road, Halifax (C025): Redesignate and rezone PID 41342080 to R-1, to allow low-density residential uses and large lot subdivision with on-site services.
    • 300 Prince Albert Road at Lake Banook, Dartmouth (C602): Establish a special area at this site through the Regional Centre Plan to allow limited recreational and commercial uses within the riparian buffer by development agreement.
    • 1246 Ketch Harbour Road, Ketch Harbour (C027/ Case 22212): Enable adaptive reuse of the existing building for residential use, by development agreement.
    • Burnside Phase 14, Dartmouth (Case 22008): Redesignate HRM lands from Rural Commuter to Urban Settlement, apply the Business/ Industrial sub-designation to the lands, and zone the lands Urban Settlement-Employment (US-E).
    • Lands at North Preston at Johnson Road (C931): Amend Schedule B of the Regional Subdivision By-law to extend the Urban Service Area to facilitate applicable Municipal Planning Strategy development agreement policies for a residential development.
    • Lands North of Frederick Lake, Hubley (C882): Apply the Protected Area Zone to this property, consistent with the donor’s wishes that the lands remain a wilderness region open for public recreational purposes and undeveloped for residential or commercial purposes.
    • Twin Brooks Subdivision Phase 4C (C948), Middle Sackville: Expand the Urban Service Area boundary to include an additional +/- 0.9 hectare (~2.2 acres) portion of PIDs 40140501, 41284449, and 40151185 to enable the construction of a wastewater main to service the Twin Brooks subdivision, which has been proceeding in phases through an as-of-right subdivision process.
  • Changes to support housing supply or strategic planning efforts

Amendments to support housing supply or strategic planning efforts are being proposed. Many of these amendments were part of the 2025 Regional Plan package and are considered to be either a major policy amendment or a housekeeping item. Detailed information is provided in the staff report and include:

Policy amendments

    • New development agreement policy to permit adaptive reuse of existing buildings in rural areas.
    • New policy to permit secondary and backyard suites in conservation design developments.
    • New Urban Settlement Employment Zone to designate municipally-owned land intended for future industrial development.
    • New policy and changes to the Regional Subdivision by-law to support subdivision for lands subject to the Land Titles Clarification Initiative in African Nova Scotian Communities.

Housekeeping amendments related to housing supply

    • Applying zoning to the Millwood Planned Unit Development Areas.
    • Housekeeping amendments for existing regulations for secondary suites and backyard suites to ensure consistency across plan areas.
    • Housekeeping amendments to allow a development agreement process to proceed for a proposed development at the former Lake Loon Golf Centre, Main Street, Dartmouth.
    • Redesignation and rezoning of a portion of 3524 Dutch Village Road to permit a proposed development to use an existing driveway.
    • Replacing a missing schedule for the Carriagewood development, Beaver Bank.
    • Modification of a planning area boundary for the Seton Ridge development, Halifax, to reflect recent changes due to subdivision of land.
    • Amendments to allow the Heritage Development Agreement Policy to be effectively applied within the Bedford Mainstreet Commercial Zone.
    • Amendments to amenity area requirements for 22 and 24 Brule Street, Dartmouth, as included in the Provincial Interim Planning Area Order for that property.
  • Changes to support rural short-term rentals

In effort to elevate and support tourism as an economic driver in rural areas, amendments to the 2014 Regional Plan include policy to support increased small-scale commercial opportunities and home-based businesses, such as small-scale short-term accommodations, in rural parts of the municipality. Amendments are proposed to the Land Use By-Laws of Eastern Shore (West), Eastern Shore (East), Lawrencetown, Musquodoboit Valley & Dutch Settlement, Planning Districts 14 & 17, and Planning Districts 8 & 9 to allow up to one dwelling unit per lot to be used as a short-term rental, provided all other requirements of the Land Use By-Law are met. For more details on changes to support rural short-term rentals, please click here.


Draft mark-up amendments

Marked-up versions of all the amended planning documents have been created so readers can quickly find any planning changes. To see a full list of marked-up planning documents, please click here.

Any changes to the text will appear in red. Bold font shows new text and strike-through shows deleted text. Below is an example:

It is important to note that these are draft amendments, are subject to change, and have no legal standing at this time.

To check which land use by-law applies to your home, please visit Explore HRM to search for your property.


What are the next steps?

The municipality will be amending the existing Regional Plan, Community Plans, Regional Subdivision By-law, and Land Use By-laws to fulfill the municipality’s obligations under the provincial legislation and address items of provincial interest.

Public comments can be submitted from Oct. 8-24. Please send all comments to regionalplan@halifax.ca.

Following the public comment period, proposed amendments to planning documents will be brought to Regional Council for first reading in the fall of 2025. Before Council approves any changes, a public hearing will be held. The public hearing will be advertised on this page once it has been scheduled.

What’s happening with the Regional Plan review?

The full review of the Regional Plan will continue as part of the Phase 5 review process. For an update on the status of the Regional Plan review, please click here.

Learn More