Halifax Index

What is the Halifax Index?

The Halifax Index is a definitive look at Halifax's economic and community progress. It tells our city’s story – the strength of our economy, the health of our community, and the sustainability of our environment – and provides insights for actions that will strengthen and grow our city.

The Halifax Index and the Halifax Economic Growth Plan 2016-21 are closely linked. The Index serves as the city's report card on our progress toward the goals set out in the Growth Plan.

The Index's sections reflect a wide-angled view of what economic and community progress looks like. It primarily benchmarks Halifax’s progress against six other cities (St. John’s, Quebec City, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (KCW), London, Regina and Victoria), showing how Halifax’s growth compares to other cities across a range of key indicators and what's required to achieve better results. (Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo has been recently added to the list given both its size and the fact that, like Halifax, it has a vibrant and growing technology sector.)

The 2017 Index contains its four traditional sections — People, Economy, Quality of Place, Sustainability, as well as the now standard Rural Analysis, and two special topics — "The Need for Immigration" and "Halifax’s Commercial Tax System".