Vice-President, Advancement
Dalhousie University

HALIFAX
Kjipuktuk

Dalhousie's Halifax campuses are in the heart of Nova Scotia’s capital—one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities, located only steps from the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a dynamic energy that generates a diverse food scene and innovative industry hubs, while also embracing beach days and coastal hikes. All of Dal’s Halifax campuses are within walking distance of the downtown core, where you’ll find art galleries, museums, theatres, festivals, sport events, lively pubs, and quaint cafés. Two hours closer by air to Europe than any other major North American destination, and only a short flight to New York and Boston, Halifax is a connected city with education at its core. A university destination, Halifax is home to three Dalhousie campuses (Studley, Carleton and Sexton) as well as three additional universities and several community college campuses. That means a highly educated community: among those ages 25 to 64, 70 per cent have at least some post-secondary education. Halifax’s GDP growth rate is forecasted to outpace both national and provincial figures over the next four years.

Halifax has a rich and varied history that is reflected in the diversity of its population. The Mi’kmaw people have been living in the area for thousands of years, calling it Kjipuktuk (The Great Harbour). The City of Halifax was founded on unceded Mi’kmaw territory in 1749 when an English settlement was built on sacred land. Today, there 13 Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia and the Mi’kmaq remain the predominant Indigenous group within the province. A growing proportion of the Mi’kmaw population resides in Halifax. Halifax is also home to a large African Nova Scotian community. African Nova Scotians/ Indigenous Blacks are a distinct people who descend from free and enslaved Black Planters, Black Loyalists, Black Refugees, Maroons, and other Black people who inhabited the original 52 land-based Black communities in that part of Mi’kma’ki known as Nova Scotia.