Data-center law in Nova Scotia

S.N.S. 1998, c. 18, Part VIII, ss. 193, 212, 225, 244, 263A

Effective 1999-04-01 · Applies to both

A council must adopt one or more municipal planning strategies. Before any development is commenced, a development permit must be obtained if the council has adopted a land-use by-law. A council may consider development by development agreement where a municipal planning strategy identifies the developments that are subject to a development agreement, the areas where they may be located and the matters the council will consider.

No person may breach the terms of a development agreement or site plan. The Governor in Council may adopt a statement of provincial interest necessary to protect the provincial interest in the use and development of land.

Source: Full text of law

S.N.S. 1994-95, c. 1, Part IV, ss. 32-33; Environmental Assessment Regulations, N.S. Reg. 26/1995

Effective 1995-03-17 · Applies to both

Until the Minister has notified the proponent in writing that an undertaking is approved, no person may commence work on the undertaking. Every proponent of an undertaking must register the undertaking with the Minister and publish a notice of it. The Environmental Assessment Regulations designate the undertakings and classes of undertakings listed in their Schedule A as undertakings to which Part IV of the Act applies.

Schedule A lists as a Class I undertaking an energy-generating facility, other than an emergency generator, with a production rating of at least 44 MW and no more than 300 MW derived from any liquid or gaseous fossil fuel or hydrogen. Schedule A lists as a Class II undertaking an energy generating facility, other than an emergency generator, with a production rating of greater than 300 MW derived from any liquid or gaseous fuel or hydrogen.

A corridor for one or more electric power transmission lines with a cumulative voltage rating of 345 kV or more is a Class I undertaking. Contravening section 32 is an offence under the Act.

Source: Full text of law

S.N.S. 2025, c. 18, Sch., ss. 6-8

Effective 2025-10-03 · Applies to both

A Nova Scotia Power customer may, as of right and without participating in a Nova Scotia Power program, install a renewable low-impact generator or energy storage device with a total nameplate capacity of 27 kilowatts or less. Nova Scotia Power must develop and maintain a program that permits a customer to generate electricity for the customer's own use and to sell electricity to Nova Scotia Power at a rate equivalent to the rate the customer pays for electricity supplied by Nova Scotia Power.

A program under section 6(3) applies only to a customer who installs a generator with a nameplate capacity of more than 27 kilowatts, where the generator and the customer's load are not connected to the same meter, or to other customer classes the regulations prescribe. A public utility may not create a fee structure, or impose system access charges, that discourage customers from developing, installing and using their own renewable low-impact energy generators or energy storage devices.

A program a public utility develops under section 6 must receive the approval of the Board before it is implemented. The Act came into force on October 3, 2025, except for provisions that have effect on proclamation.

Source: Full text of law

S.N.S. 2025, c. 18, Sch., ss. 18-20

Effective 2025-10-03 · Applies to both

No person may act or purport to act as a retail supplier unless the person has been issued a retail supplier licence. A retail supplier who meets the requirements of section 19 may sell renewable low-impact electricity generated within the Province, and a retail customer, other than a customer of a municipal utility, may purchase that electricity from the supplier.

Nova Scotia Power must not refuse to provide service to a retail customer on the basis that the customer purchases renewable low-impact electricity from a retail supplier. A retail customer is a person who uses, for the person's own consumption in the Province, electricity that the person did not generate. The Act came into force on October 3, 2025, except for provisions that have effect on proclamation.

Source: Full text of law

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 380, ss. 44, 52, 107

Applies to both

Every public utility is required to furnish service and facilities reasonably safe and adequate and in all respects just and reasonable. The Board may make orders it deems just in respect of the tolls, rates and charges to be paid to a public utility for services rendered or facilities provided.

A public utility that charges or collects from a person more or less than the tariff in force, or more or less than it charges another person for a like and contemporaneous service, is guilty of unjust discrimination, which the Act prohibits.

Source: Full text of law

N.S. Reg. 47/1995, ss. 3, 5A; Environment Act, S.N.S. 1994-95, c. 1, s. 50

Effective 2014-10-01 · Applies to both

Withdrawing or diverting water in a volume greater than 23,000 L per day from a source of surface water or ground water is designated as an activity that requires an approval, unless it requires a notification or is exempt. Storing water in a volume of 25,000 cubic metres or greater, and constructing, modifying or maintaining a dam, are also designated as activities that require an approval.

Anything designated as an activity requires an approval from the Minister or an Administrator unless it is specified as an activity that requires notification. No person may knowingly commence or continue an activity designated by the regulations as requiring an approval unless the person holds the appropriate class of approval.

Source: Full text of law

N.S. Reg. 198/2024, ss. 4, 6, 13

Effective 2025-04-01 · Applies to both

The Nova Scotia Building Code Regulations apply to the administration and enforcement of the Building Code Act in the design, construction, erection, placement and occupancy of new buildings. The regulations adopt the National Building Code of Canada 2020, the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings 2020 and the National Plumbing Code of Canada 2020, as amended by the regulations, as part of the Code. A national code adopted as part of the Code must be complied with as adopted.

To obtain a permit, an owner must submit an application as prescribed in the bylaws of the applicable municipality as the authority having jurisdiction.

Source: Full text of law

N.S. Reg. 47/1995, ss. 3, 20; Environment Act, S.N.S. 1994-95, c. 1, s. 50

Effective 1995-04-11 · Applies to both

The construction, operation or reclamation of a power plant in which hot water, steam or thermal electric power is produced and which has a total rated thermal input capacity of 25 megawatts or more is designated as an activity. Anything designated as an activity requires an approval from the Minister or an Administrator unless it is specified as an activity that requires notification.

No person may knowingly commence or continue an activity designated by the regulations as requiring an approval unless the person holds the appropriate class of approval.

Source: Full text of law

N.S. Reg. 28/2005, s. 3

Effective 2026-06-01 · Applies to both

The criteria for ambient air quality throughout the Province are prescribed in Schedule A and Schedule AA. An approval holder must not exceed the ambient air quality standards prescribed in Schedule A.

Source: Full text of law