Our seventh council meeting of 2026 was held on Tuesday, 14 April 2026.
The full meeting agenda, reports and video recording are linked below, as well as the draft Minutes.
Halifax Regional Council – April 14, 2026
April 14, 2026 Regional Council Draft Minutes
Items most relevant to District 7 are highlighted below.
10.1 PLSTUDY-2026-00504: Inclusionary Zoning Market Analysis and Policy Options Update
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council direct the Acting Chief Administrative Officer:
1. Accept the findings of the Inclusionary Zoning Market Analysis and Policy Options Final Report;
2. Discontinue the process to amend the Regional Municipal Planning Strategy and all applicable secondary municipal planning strategies and land-use by-laws to create an Inclusionary Zoning Program for HRM as directed by Regional Council on May 9, 2023; and
3. Continue to consider the feasibility of Inclusionary Zoning as a possible future tool for supporting affordable housing in combination with incentive or bonus zoning when preparing future amendments for Council’s consideration for both regional and community planning documents.”
This one was a bit of a disappointment for all of us, as we had hoped that the Inclusionary Zoning program would bring more affordable housing to HRM, as we all know that the large concrete buildings that we see going up are expensive to build and generally rented out at market value, which is unaffordable for many.
However, staff found that at this time, the margins are so tight on building, that implementing Inclusionary Zoning as a tool for affordability may lead to limiting the number of housing projects preceding at all. We need both more market supply and more affordable units.
HRM will focus on supporting the nonprofit sector through our density bonusing program (Affordable Housing Grant Program) and our Non-Profit Tax Relief program. We will also see staff recommendations for moving forward through the Halifax Housing Strategy, a requirement under the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Action Plan, that will come to council later this year.
13.1.1 Fly-past Request – Halifax Wanderers Department of National Defence (DND) Appreciation Game
“Motion:
That the Halifax Regional Municipality grant permission to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to fly assets in formation over the Wanderers Grounds, as per the enclosed diagram in the letter dated March 30, 2026, routed from north northeast to south southwest, flying over the Commons/Citadel Hill, originating from over the harbour and at a height of 500 feet above the highest obstacles on May 30, 2026, at 4:04 p.m. for the annual Department of National Defence (DND) Appreciation Game.”
This motion passed on the consent agenda.
13.1.2 Fly‑Past Request – Canadian Armed Forces Maritime and Air Cooperation Ceremony
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council grant permission for a fly‑past by Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft, in coordination with a naval asset, to be conducted over Halifax Harbour on May 16, 2026, as per the enclosed route/map, at an altitude of approximately 500 feet above the highest obstacles, at a time between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m, as part of an event to highlight ongoing cooperation between maritime and air elements of the Canadian Armed Forces.”
This motion passed on the consent agenda.
15.1.5 Downtown Halifax Vision 2030: Municipal Alignment Review
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council:
1. Receive this report as the municipal alignment assessment of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission’s Downtown Halifax Vision 2030 framework; and
2. Endorse the implementation approach outlined in the staff report dated April 8, 2026, whereby HRM will:
a. continue to engage with Downtown Halifax Business Commission (DHBC) and advance alignment where feasible through existing Council-approved plans, budgets, and processes;
b. require separate business cases and explicit Council approval for any new operating or capital commitments; and
c. rely on DHBC to lead advocacy, coordination, and non-municipal implementation.”
This item was on the consent agenda, but I informed my colleagues on the weekend that I’d like to pull it off to hear their thoughts on the vision and staff report, and to highlight the importance of investing in our downtown to the financial sustainably of HRM as a whole.
It was a good discussion, with many councillors recognizing the need for a thriving downtown, and some sharing reservations that the vision did not encompass all districts. Councillor Cleary’s comments were awesome!
Staff wanted to convey to council that this plan is not an HRM plan and communicated that it represented the view from one Business Improvement District (BID), rather than the 5 that represent different main street areas of the Regional Centre (Quinpool, Spring Garden Road Area, North End, Downtown Dartmouth).
I wanted to share the view that this Vision 2030 was for what we think of more holistically as downtown, including the Citadel, the Public Gardens, the Wanderers block and the harbour including Downtown Dartmouth.
I shared with colleagues that 16% of commercial taxes and 10.4% of residential taxes are collected in D7. If we include D5, 7, 8 & 9 (Downtown Dartmouth & the 3 peninsula districts), those portions rise to 35% and 30% respectively. We need to have a thriving downtown (socially and financially) to have a sustainable municipality.
I think further thought on an HRM vision for “downtown” and a funding stream for how to realize it is warranted.
The motion passed 12 – 2. I voted Yes.
15.2.1 Integrated Mobility Plan Action Update
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council:
1. adopt the Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP) Action Update and direct the CAO that it be used to guide implementation of the IMP;
2. direct staff to report annually on progress made on the IMP Action Plan to Regional Council through the Transportation Standing Committee; and,
3. adopt Equity as the fifth pillar of the IMP, as set forth in the Discussion section of the staff report dated March 19, 2026, for project planning and evaluation purposes.”
The IMP is HRM’s transportation plan, including active, public and private vehicle transportation modes, as well as goods movement. The time horizon for the IMP is from 2017 until 2031. This Action Update focuses in on the work that will happen between now and then, based on the learnings over the last 8 years of implementation. The transformation of our municipality under this plan is imperative to implementing HalifACT and our Road Safety Strategy. Progress has been slow and divisive at times, but we have no choice but to continue on this path, or our municipality will be unable to grow, congested with even more vehicles, unsafe to move around in and unsustainable financially and environmentally.
When we reach 2031 and revise the plan to the IMP 2.0, it will be crucial that we increase our mode share targets and associated action plans beyond 70% of trips being taken outside of a personal vehicle. Our population is growing such that even meeting our targets will not decrease the number of personal vehicle trips taken to transform HRM into a place that people have real transportation choices, and movement by all modes is efficient and safe.
Council had two good debates on this plan, both at TSC and here at council, and there was good public participation on the topic too, so I am attaching the TSC video here:
March 26, 2026 Transportation Standing Committee
A shout out to Councillor Purdy who voted Yes at TSC to move this along to Regional Council. Without her vote, the IMP was about to fail at TSC with a 2 – 2 vote as not all members were present for the vote. Yikes!
This motion passed 12 – 2. I voted Yes.
15.4.1 Halifax Regional Event Strategy Report
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council:
1. Endorse the Halifax Regional Event Strategy 2035, as outlined in Attachment 1 of the staff report dated February 24, 2026.
2. Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to work in partnership with Discover Halifax and sector partners to implement the Halifax Regional Event Strategy 2035 through Annual Action Plans, using existing resources.
3. Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to align various municipal event-related policies, processes, and governance structures, where appropriate, with the Halifax Regional Event Strategy 2035.
4. Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to work with Discover Halifax to prepare and return to Council with:
a. staff presentation, proposed detailed policy, program, governance, and measurement instruments, as required, to support implementation of the Halifax Regional Event Strategy 2035; and
b. proposed amendments to Administrative Order 2014-020-GOV (Marketing Levy Special Event Reserve Grants) to align, or replace, current event-funding programs so they are governed by, and consistent with, the Halifax Regional Event Strategy 2035.
This strategy will help HRM streamline event planning. This will make events more affordable to host for local nonprofits and more attractive to out-of-town events planners too. Events help us to connect with each other and have some fun, while also generating economic activity and transforming our communities for the better. Events are a tool that can help us advance all of our strategic priorities. For example, I’m quite excited about what events can do to help us build a culture of transit usage. If people try transit as a way to get to a large festival, they may be more likely to ride on a regular day as well, for example.
Council received a presentation from Discover Halifax. The motion passed unanimously (14 – 0).