Halifax is the heart of Atlantic Canada's economy. It is a large urban centre with many ports along it's coast. Halifax has a main industry of forestry, agriculture, coal mining and oil and gas mining.
Primary Industries Extraction of raw materials from the Earth
Agriculture - mainly in the Halifax Regional Municipality in the Musquodoboit Valley. Fishing - all coastal areas under the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Mining - mainly coal production, along with clay, shale, gold and limestone. Forestry - mainly in the Eastern shore area of the Musquodoboit Valley. Natural Gas - natural gas fields off the coast of Sable Island.
Secondary Industries Transformation of raw materials into goods
Beer - Keith’s Brewery and Oland Brewery Aerospace industry - engine manufacturing
Tertiary Industries Services to consumers and businesses
Banking and Financial service - headquarters of Maritime life and the Bank of Nova Scotia. Tourism - Atlantic Ocean, fishing villages, Bluenose and cruise ships. Stores and Retail
Quaternary Industries Innovation services
Government - the Department of Natural Defence, the CFB Shearwater, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Ports of Halifax and the Canadian Coast Guard. Library - the first public library of Canada was built in Halifax. Education - Dalhousie University, Saint Mary’s University and the University of King’s College. Information technology
Natural Resources
Nova Scotia has many natural resources available. It’s thriving with it’s forestry and commercial agriculture sectors. Nova Scotia also has a very strong mining sector, dominated mostly by coal production. A relatively new resource found in Nova Scotia in 1991 is the offshore oil and gas. The revenue from the oil and gas production has helped significantly to increase the province’s economy.
Jobs in the Halifax Regional Municipality
The jobs in Halifax are mostly resource based, but some are service based through the government offices. Most jobs are within the primary industries, such as agriculture, fishing, forestry and the mining of coal. Traditionally, Haligonians made their living fishing on the Scotian Shelf, but there were so many people in the profession that the fish population became endangered. Many of these people lost their jobs and were forced to look elsewhere for a new one. When the oil and gas industry emerged, the economy rebounded. However, many people are still connected to the water through the many port jobs at Halifax Harbour, the Halifax Port Authority, the Great Circle Route, the Canadian Coast Guard and cargo piers. The port facilities also support the offshore natural gas production.
Sustainability
The primary sector consists of natural resources. As we can see with the fishing industry, it was overfished and not used wisely. Halifax must be careful to let their resources replenish themselves unless they extract all of it at once and have none left. The fact that Halifax is mostly resource based makes it unstable as a city. There are many government job opportunities that make up for this and act as fall back to help keep the city strong.