News release

Province, Municipalities To Share Information

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations (Oct. 2000 - March 2014)

SERVICE N.S./MUNICIPAL RELATIONS--Province, Municipalities To Share Information


The two largest municipalities in Nova Scotia and the provincial government will save taxpayers' money and improve efficiency by sharing more information.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) and the province have signed an agreement to share civic address and mapping information, assessment data and other property-related and geographic information, such as building location and property boundaries. The agreement was signed Thursday, May 15.

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations Minister Peter Christie and George McLellan, chief administrative officer of HRM, and Jerry Ryan, CAO of CBRM, agree this is a landmark agreement that demonstrates increased collaboration and co- operation between the province and its two largest municipalities.

Mr. Christie said civic addressing is a good example of how citizens will benefit from this agreement. "Our department is surveying the province, one county at a time, and building a high quality database of roads and buildings," he said. "CBRM and HRM maintain similar databases. Through this agreement, the taxpayer is spared the expense of two levels of government paying to collect and maintain the same information."

Mr. Ryan said the agreement will have a positive, practical impact on residents. "When a new road is built in CBRM, the municipality will update its municipal civic address database and then share the information with the province's civic addressing database, which is used to dispatch emergency vehicles," he said.

"This is a good example of co-operation between the municipalities and the province," said Mr. McLellan. "We'll avoid the duplication of efforts and costs involved in gathering this important information."