This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only.

For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Office of the Registrar of Regulations , or refer to the Royal Gazette

Part II .

Regulations are amended frequently.

Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with our office that are not yet included in this consolidation.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this electronic version, the Office of the Registrar of Regulations assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may have resulted from reformatting.

This electronic version is copyright ©

, Province of Nova Scotia , all rights reserved. It is for your personal use and may not be copied for the purposes of resale in this or any other form.

Minimum Planning Requirements Regulations

made under subsection 229(4) of the

Halifax Regional Municipality Charter

S.N.S. 2008, c. 39

N.S. Reg. 138/2019 (effective December 3, 2019)

amended to N.S. Reg. 196/2025 (effective October 3, 2025)

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Citation

Definitions

Review of planning documents

Mandatory content

Mandatory content related to housing supply

Discretionary content related to planning tools

Discretionary content related to engagement

Discretionary content related to fiscal matters

Discretionary content related to the natural environment

Discretionary content related to social aspects

Discretionary content related to resource lands, infrastructure and economic development

Discretionary content related to culture, heritage and landscape features

Discretionary content related to general matters

Wind turbine setback requirement

Matters considered before approving wind turbine development

Appendix A: Regional Centre

Appendix B: Urban Service Area

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Minimum Planning Requirements Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations,

“Charter” means the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter ;

“residential dwelling” means a permanent structure used for human habitation and

includes a house, condominium, apartment building, cottage, mobile home or

trailer.

Review of planning documents

(1) Council must include policies in a municipal planning strategy on how it intends to

review the municipal planning strategy and land-use by-law that implements the

municipal planning strategy.

(2) A municipal planning strategy and its implementing land use by-law must be

reviewed no later than 10 years after the later of the following dates:

(

a) the date it was adopted;

(

b) the date it was last reviewed;

(

c) the effective date of these regulations.

(3) Where the Municipality has one or more secondary planning strategies, subsection

(2) shall be satisfied if a municipal-wide municipal planning strategy and all the

land use by-laws applicable in the Municipality are reviewed within the timelines

provided in subsection (2).

(4) “Review” in relation to a municipal planning strategy, means the Municipality’s

consideration of the content of a municipal planning strategy to determine if it

should be amended or replaced to ensure that it meets the purposes outlined in

Section 228 of the Charter and the minimum planning requirements.

Mandatory content

4 In addition to the requirements prescribed in subsection 229(1) of the Act, a municipal

planning strategy must contain all of the following:

(

a) a discussion of the background and contextual information that informed the

goals and objectives of the municipal planning strategy;

(

b) a map of the lands within the Municipality that depicts the intended future

uses of the lands as contemplated by the Municipality’s municipal planning

strategy;

(

c) statements of policy with respect to the lands subject to the municipal

planning strategy in relation to all of the following:

(

i) residential uses,

(ii) commercial and industrial uses,

(iii) institutional uses,

(iv) recreational facilities and public open spaces,

(

v) resource uses, where resources are present within a municipality;

(

d) a statement of policy describing the procedures to be followed when

reviewing a municipal planning strategy that must provide for public

consultation and notice.

Mandatory content related to housing supply

4A

(1) In this Section,

“regional centre” means the area of the Municipality identified as the regional

centre on the map attached as Appendix A;

“urban service area” means the area of the Municipality identified as the urban

service area on the map attached as Appendix B.

(2) In addition to the requirements prescribed in subsection 229(1) of the Charter and

Section 4, a municipal planning strategy must do all of the following to address the

issue of housing supply:

(

a) include a statement of policy that expressly recognizes that the Province

and, in particular, the Municipality are experiencing a housing shortage

crisis and specifies that the most urgent priority in municipal land-use

planning, regulation and development approval is to rapidly increase the

supply of housing in the Municipality;

(

b) require that priority be given to increasing the supply of safe, sustainable

and affordable housing in the Municipality over other interests identified in

the municipal planning strategy for the purposes of all processes, approvals

and decisions made under the municipal planning strategy;

(

c) permit residential uses in all zones, except for areas zoned for industrial,

military, park, transportation reserve, utility, water supply, floodplain,

Crown land, agriculture and any lands zoned to reflect ownership by a

conservation organization;

(

d) require that the Municipality share with the Province the information used

by the Municipality to identify, fund,

schedule and deploy the infrastructure

to develop an adequate supply of housing to support anticipated population

growth;

(

e) provide for the adoption of a secondary municipal planning strategy and the

implementation of a land-use by-law for the area of the Municipality

identified as the suburban area on the map attached as Appendix A, or a

substantially similar area, no later than January 31, 2025;

(

f) for developments enabled under the Municipality’s Conservation Design

Development policies in the Regional Municipal Planning Strategy that

begin construction before April 1, 2028, determine the maximum density of

a development based on a lot’s gross area and not on its net area;

(

g) not impose maximum height restrictions in a manner that negatively affects

the density of residential buildings using mass timber or any other

construction method;

(

h) for residential buildings that begin construction before April 1, 2028,

provide that no requirement related to unit mix applies;

(

i) provide that no requirement for on-site parking applies to residential uses

within the urban service area;

(

j) for multi-unit residential buildings that begin construction before April 1,

2028, not require that the ground floor consist of more than 20%

commercial space;

(

k) permit temporary housing in non-permanent structures as a use in all zones

where it can be safely established to allow employees to live on or near their

worksite during a work assignment for a period of time that can be

reasonably tied to the duration of the project and that is explicitly set out in

the development permit;

(

l) permit manufactured housing, including modified shipping containers

converted into housing, in all residential zones.

(3) The requirements outlined in subsection (2) must be implemented no later than

December 31, 2024.

Matters subject to other enactment of Province

(1) A municipality may include in its municipal planning strategy statements of policy

on land use relating to any of the matters set out in Sections 6 to 13 unless the

matter is the subject of another enactment of the Province.

(2) Provided it is not prohibited by another enactment, statements of policy referred to

in subsection (1) may be more stringent than another enactment.

Discretionary content related to planning tools

6 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on the use, content,

development, and administration of the following:

(

a) zoning;

(

b) development agreements;

(

c) comprehensive development districts;

(

d) site-plan approval areas;

(

e) incentive or bonus zoning;

(

f) accepting and using cash-in-lieu of required parking;

(

g) studies to be carried out before undertaking specified developments or

developments in specified areas;

(

h) staging development;

(

i) non-conforming uses and structures;

(

j) subdividing land; and

(

k) regulation or prohibition of development in areas based on noise exposure

forecast or noise exposure projections.

Discretionary content related to engagement

7 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on engaging with

provincial and federal departments, First Nations, and non-abutting municipalities.

Discretionary content related to fiscal matters

8 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on any of the following:

(

a) municipal investment for public and private development and coordinating

public programs relating to the economic, social and physical development

of the municipality;

(

b) eligibility criteria for establishing a commercial development district

including all of the following:

(

i) the percentage increase in the taxable assessed value of the eligible

properties, as defined in subsection 92C(1) of the Charter, within the

proposed commercial development district,

(ii) the period over which the increase in the taxable assessed value of

the properties occurs.

Discretionary content related to the natural environment

9 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on any of the following:

(

a) climate change mitigation and adaptation;

(

b) protecting the natural environment and biodiversity;

(

c) protecting the coast;

(

d) protecting water supplies;

(

e) identifying, preserving and protecting landscape features;

(

f) stormwater management and erosion control;

(

g) excavating or filling of land, the placement of fill or the removal of soil;

(

h) identifying, protecting, using and developing any of the following:

(

i) lands subject to flooding,

(ii) steep slopes,

(iii) lands susceptible to subsidence, erosion or other geological hazards,

(iv) wetlands or other environmentally sensitive areas.

Discretionary content related to social aspects

10 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on any of the following:

(

a) how social issues must be incorporated into decision making;

(

b) promoting social well-being;

(

c) housing opportunities for a range of social and economic needs and to

support aging in place;

(

d) promoting community food security;

people;

(

f) walkability;

(

g) healthy built environments.

Discretionary content related to resource lands, infrastructure and economic development

11 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on any of the following:

(

a) protecting and using resource lands;

(

b) infrastructure including municipal services and facilities and the means of

recovering their cost;

(

c) generating, using, and conserving energy;

(

d) transportation services and networks including establishing transportation

reserves;

(

e) home occupations and home-based businesses.

Discretionary content related to culture, heritage and landscape features

12 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on any of the following:

(

a) heritage property protection and heritage buildings;

(

b) sites of cultural, historical or archeological interest;

(

c) other significant natural or human-made features.

Discretionary content related to general matters

13 A municipal planning strategy may include statements of policy on any of the following:

(

a) public health and safety;

(

b) land use matters relating to the physical, economic or social environment of

the Municipality not otherwise prescribed in these regulations;

(

c) the minimum setback required between a residential dwelling and a wind

turbine;

(

d) the matters that Council must consider before approving a wind turbine

development.

Wind turbine setback requirement

(1) Any statement of policy included in a municipal planning strategy in accordance

with clause 13(

c) on the minimum setback required between a residential dwelling

and a wind turbine, that is part of, or located within, an energy-generating facility

with a production rating of 2 MW or greater, must not require a minimum setback

larger than the greater of the following:

(a) 4 times the wind turbine height;

(

b) the distance required to ensure that

(

i) sound levels from the wind turbine do not exceed 40 dBA at the

exterior of a residential dwelling, and

(ii) a residential dwelling receives less than 30 minutes per day or 30

hours per year of shadow flicker.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), wind turbine height is measured as the distance

from

(

a) for a wind turbine other than a roof-mounted wind turbine, the average

finished grade of the wind turbine to 1 of the following:

(

i) the highest point of the wind turbine rotor,

(ii) the tip of the wind turbine blade when it reaches its highest elevation;

(

b) for a roof-mounted wind turbine, the building’s average finished grade to 1

of the following:

(

i) the highest point of the wind turbine rotor,

(ii) the tip of the wind turbine blade when it reaches its highest elevation.

Matters considered before approving wind turbine development

15 Any statement of policy included in a municipal planning strategy in accordance with

clause 13(

d) on matters that Council must consider before approving a wind turbine

development must not include the visual impact or aesthetic appearance of a wind

turbine development.

Appendix A: Regional Centre

Appendix B: Urban Service Area

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Minimum Planning Requirements Regulations

N.S. Reg.

138/2019

Halifax Regional Municipality Charter

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Minimum Planning Requirements Regulations made

under the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

138/2019

Dec 3, 2019

date specified (in force date of S.N.S. 2018, c. 39)

Oct 11, 2019

178/2024

Aug 21, 2024

date specified

Sep 6, 2024

205/2024

Sep 25, 2024

date specified

Oct 18, 2024

215/2024

Oct 10, 2024

date specified

Mar 21, 2025

228/2024

Oct 24, 2024

date specified

Mar 21, 2025

50/2025

Mar 7, 2025

date specified

Mar 21, 2025

196/2025

Oct 3, 2025

date specified

Oct 17, 2025

The following regulations are not yet in force and are

not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs . = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

2, defn . of “Charter” ........................

am.

215/2024 2 , 228/2024, 50/2025 3

2, defn . of “residential

dwelling” ....

ad. 215/2024 ; rep. 228/2024

ad. 50/2025

2, defn . of “residential

dwelling” ....

4(c)(iv) .............................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

4A ....................................................

ad. 178/2024

4A(2)(c) ......................................

rs . 196/2025

4A(2)(f) ......................................

rs . 205/2024; am. 196/2025

4A(2)(h) ......................................

am.

196/2025

4A(2)(j) .......................................

am.

196/2025

8(b)(i) ...............................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

9(h)(iii) .............................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

10(f) .................................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

11(d) .................................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

12(b) .................................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

13(a) .................................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

13(b) .................................................

am.

215/2024, 228/2024, 50/2025

13(c) .................................................

ad. 215/2024 ; rep. 228/2024

ad. 50/2025

13(d) .................................................

ad. 50/2025

14 .....................................................

ad. 215/2024 ; rep. 228/2024

ad. 50/2025

15 .....................................................

ad. 50/2025

Appendices A-B ..............................

ad. 178/2024

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

Amending instruction in N.S. Reg. 178/2024 to add s. 4A

does not specify where to insert Appendix A and Appendix B, which are

referred to in the Section. Appendix A and Appendix B added immediately after

the end of the text of the regulations for the purposes of this

consolidation.

Amending instructions in N.S. Reg. 215/2024 specify

amendments to the definition of “Act” in s. 2 and the placement of a new

definition in relation to the definition of “Act”. The definition of “Act” does

not exist in the regulations; amendments made to and in relation to the

definition of “Charter” for the purposes of this consolidation.

Amending instructions in N.S. Reg. 50/2025 specify

amendments to the definition of “Act” in s. 2 and the placement of a new

definition in relation to the definition of “Act”. The definition of “Act” does

not exist in the regulations; amendments made to and in relation to the

definition of “Charter” for the purposes of this consolidation.

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.