Culture of The Halifax Regional Municipality

Culture Of The Halifax Regional Municipality

Hosting the region's largest urban population, the Halifax Regional Municipality, or HRM, is an important cultural centre in Atlantic Canada.

HRM is home to a vibrant arts & culture community that enjoys considerable support and participation from the general population. As the largest community and the administrative centre of the Atlantic region since its founding of the former city of Halifax in 1749, Halifax has long-standing tradition of being a cultural generator. While Provincial arts & culture policies have tended to distribute investment and support of the arts throughout the province, sometimes to the detriment of more populous Halifax, cultural production in HRM is increasingly being recognized for its economic benefits, as well as its purely cultural aspects. (See: Creative class.)

The Halifax Regional Municipality is in the process of drafting a Cultural Plan to guide the municipality’s development of its arts & culture over the next twelve years.

While HRM is not as multiculturally diverse as its larger Canadian counterparts, this is slowly evolving, particularly as the municipality and province place more emphasis on attracting immigrants. Muslims comprise the second-largest visible minority in HRM, while the largest visible minority - the historic African Nova Scotian community - as well as the more recently established Greek and Lebanese communities provide important influences for local culture. The municipality's urban core benefits from a large population of post-secondary students who provide a strong influence on the local cultural scene.