Halifax is not ready for the climate crisis

HRM’s climate action plan is not very active

Naturalized waterfront at Birch Cove Park on Lake Banook, on Nov. 1, 2025. Photo by Antonia Zwissler

by Antonia Zwissler

Halifax’s climate action plan, HalifACT, turned five this year, and progress is still in the elementary stages. On Tuesday, Oct. 28, Kevin Boutilier, manager of clean energy, updated council on what HalifACT achieved this year.

Only 23 of the 48 points HalifACT worked on last fiscal year are “on track”. To embitter things further, three of the most tangible points are in limbo. These three points used to be activated by Halifax’s main planning document, the Regional Plan. But after HalifACT’s latest progress report, the provincial government rejected the new Regional Plan. So while HalifACT goals are marked as “on track” before the provincial rejection, in actuality, progress has been lost since then. Some goals of these actions were for new builds to be 30 metres from watercourses, have more green energy, and be built closer to transit corridors.

At least nine of things reported to be languishing were also hindered by the province. Starting at Action 1, “Net Zero and Climate Resilient New Construction,” which needs adjustment because HalifACT wants the province to fully adopt the National Energy Code for Buildings, but the province is only implementing the lower level of that code. Another is the heating retrofit goal; HalifACT wants 100% of buildings in the HRM to be retrofitted by 2040. A retrofit costs around $30,000, and provincial rebates cap out at $5,000. HalifACT is planning to spend $3 million financing the retrofit of 100 houses in the coming year. So the math is not mathing, and it’s not looking good for 100% of buildings being retrofitted in the next 15 years.