List of former municipalities of Nova Scotia facts for kids
Nova Scotia has seen some big changes in how its towns and counties are organized since the mid-1990s. Sometimes, smaller areas have joined together to form larger ones, or they have become part of a nearby county. This article explains these changes and lists the places that have changed their local government setup.
Contents
What is a Municipality?
A municipality is a local area with its own government. This government helps manage things like roads, water, and schools for the people living there. In Nova Scotia, you can have different types of municipalities, like cities, towns, or county municipalities.
Sometimes, these local governments change. This can happen to make services better, save money, or help areas work together more easily.
How Places Change Their Government
There are a few ways places in Nova Scotia have changed their local government:
- Amalgamation: This is when two or more separate municipalities join together to create one brand new, larger municipality. Think of it like several small teams combining to form one big, new team.
- Dissolution: This happens when a town stops being its own separate municipality. Instead, it becomes part of a nearby county or district municipality. It's like a small club closing down and its members joining a bigger club.
- Annexation: This is when a city expands its borders to include a nearby area that wasn't officially part of any town or city government. It's like a city growing bigger by adding a new neighborhood.
Big Changes in the 1990s
The mid-1990s saw some of the biggest changes in Nova Scotia's local governments. Several towns and counties joined forces to create larger regional municipalities.
Cape Breton Regional Municipality
In 1995, a major change happened on Cape Breton Island. The entire Cape Breton County Municipality and eight towns within it decided to amalgamate. These towns were:
- Sydney (a city)
- Glace Bay
- Dominion
- Louisbourg
- New Waterford
- North Sydney
- Sydney Mines
They all joined together to form the new Cape Breton Regional Municipality. This made one large government responsible for a big part of the island.
Halifax Regional Municipality
Just one year later, in 1996, a similar big change happened in the Halifax area. The Halifax County Municipality and three other municipalities amalgamated to create the Halifax Regional Municipality. These were:
- Halifax (a city)
- Dartmouth (a city)
- Bedford (a town)
This created a much larger regional government for the capital area of Nova Scotia.
Region of Queens Municipality
Also in 1996, Queens County Municipality and the town of Liverpool amalgamated. They formed the new Region of Queens Municipality.
More Recent Changes
Since the big changes in the 1990s, other towns have also changed their government structure, mostly through dissolution.
- In 2012, the town of Canso was dissolved and became part of the Municipality of the District of Guysborough.
- In 2015, the town of Bridgetown was dissolved and joined the Municipality of the County of Annapolis.
- Also in 2015, Springhill was dissolved and became part of the Municipality of the County of Cumberland.
- The town of Hantsport was dissolved in 2015 and joined the Municipality of the District of West Hants (which is now part of the West Hants Regional Municipality).
- In 2016, Parrsboro was dissolved and became part of the Municipality of the County of Cumberland.
- Most recently, in 2020, the District Municipality of West Hants and the town of Windsor amalgamated to form the new West Hants Regional Municipality.
Unincorporated Areas Joining Cities
Sometimes, areas that didn't have their own official town or city government were annexed by nearby cities. This means the city expanded its borders to include them.
- In 1969, several unincorporated areas were annexed by the City of Halifax. These included:
* Spryfield * Armdale * Rockingham * Fairview
- In 1961, some areas were annexed by the City of Dartmouth:
* Woodlawn * Woodside * Westphal
- Even earlier, in 1904, Whitney Pier was an unincorporated area that was annexed by the City of Sydney.
These changes show how local governments in Nova Scotia have adapted over time to best serve their communities.
