Halifax (federal electoral district)

Halifax is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is one of a handful of ridings which has been represented continuously (albeit with different boundaries and different numbers of members) in the House of Commons since Confederation in 1867.

The riding of Halifax includes the communities of Spryfield, Sambro, Herring Cove, Harrietsfield, Williamswood, Prospect, Purcell's Cove, Armdale, Cowie Hill, Fairmount, Kline Heights, and the Halifax Peninsula.

History

The electoral district was created at Confederation in 1867. It returned two members until 1968.

The most notable of the riding's MPs was Robert Borden, who was Conservative leader from 1901 to 1920, and Prime Minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920. Borden represented the riding from 1896 to 1904 and again from 1909 to 1917. Another notable MP was Robert Stanfield, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1967 to 1976, who represented the riding from 1968 to 1979.

Halifax was represented by the New Democratic Party from 1997 to 2015, with the Liberal Party coming in second in every election from 2000 to 2015. The riding's boundaries were re-distributed in 2004. Before that date, it comprised the peninsula of Halifax, the community of Fairview, and part of Clayton Park.

Alexa McDonough stepped down as NDP leader in 2003, but stayed on to represent Halifax in the House of Commons. McDonough ran for re-election against popular city councillor Sheila Fougere in 2004, who came within 1000 votes of beating the incumbent. McDonough pulled ahead based in part on a strong showing in Halifax's North End. On 2 June 2008, McDonough announced that she would not seek re-election.<ref> Template:Cite news</ref>

Following the 2012 redistribution, the riding gained a small part of the riding of Halifax West, on the eastern side of Long Lake Provincial Park.

Following the 2022 redistribution, the riding lost the Fairmount area to Halifax West.

Demographics

According to the 2021 Canadian census, 2023 representation order<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Languages: 82.8% English, 3.1% French, 2.5% Mandarin, 1.8% Arabic, 1.1% Punjabi
Race: 73.9% White, 6.1% South Asian, 5.4% Black, 3.8% Chinese, 3.2% Indigenous, 2.4% Arab, 1.1% Filipino
Religions: 42.8% Christian (19.6% Catholic, 5.6% Anglican, 4.8% United Church, 2.3% Baptist, 10.6% other), 3.8% Muslim, 2.8% Hindu, 1.2% Sikh, 46.9% none
Median income: $38,400 (2020)
Average income: $52,900 (2020)

Geography

The district includes the old City of Halifax except for the extreme western part, the area along the west coast of Halifax Harbour and along the Atlantic Ocean until Pennant. It also includes Sable Island. The area is Template:Convert.

Members of Parliament

Halifax was a two-member riding from 1867 to 1968, electing its members through block voting. Since the 1968 Canadian federal election, it has elected just one MP in each election, electing its member through first past the post.

This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:

2 member riding (1867–1968)

Parliament	Years	Member		Party	Member		Party
Halifax
1st	1867–1869	Template:Canadian party colour |	Alfred Gilpin Jones	Anti-Confederation	Template:Canadian party colour |	Patrick Power	Anti-Confederation
	1869–1870	rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |		Independent	Template:Canadian party colour |		Liberal
	1870–1872	Template:Canadian party colour |			Independent Liberal
2nd	1872–1874	Template:Canadian party colour |	William Johnston Almon	Liberal–Conservative	Template:Canadian party colour |	Stephen Tobin	Liberal
3rd	1874–1878	Template:Canadian party colour |	Patrick Power	Independent Liberal	Template:Canadian party colour |	Alfred Gilpin Jones	Independent
4th	1878–1882	rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |	Matthew Henry Richey	Liberal–Conservative	rowspan="3" Template:Canadian party colour |	Malachy Bowes Daly	Liberal–Conservative
5th	1882–1883
	1883–1887	Template:Canadian party colour |	John Fitzwilliam Stairs	Conservative
6th	1887–1891	Template:Canadian party colour |	Alfred Gilpin Jones	Liberal	rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |	Thomas Edward Kenny	Conservative
7th	1891–1896	rowspan="3" Template:Canadian party colour |	John Fitzwilliam Stairs	Conservative
8th	1896–1900	Robert Borden	rowspan="3" Template:Canadian party colour |		Benjamin Russell	Liberal
9th	1900–1904		William Roche
10th	1904–1908	Template:Canadian party colour |		Michael Carney	Liberal
11th	1908–1911	rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |	Robert Borden	Conservative	Template:Canadian party colour |	Adam Brown Crosby	Conservative
12th	1911–1917	Template:Canadian party colour |			Alexander Kenneth Maclean	Liberal
13th	1917–1921	Template:Canadian party colour |	Peter Francis Martin	Government (Unionist)		Template:Canadian party colour |	Government (Unionist)
14th	1921–1922	rowspan="3" Template:Canadian party colour |	Edward Blackadder	Liberal		rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal
	1922–1923	Robert Emmett Finn
	1923–1925		rowspan="4" Template:Canadian party colour |		William Anderson Black	Conservative
15th	1925–1926	rowspan="3" Template:Canadian party colour |	Felix Patrick Quinn	Conservative
16th	1926–1930
17th	1930–1935
18th	1935–1940	rowspan="7" Template:Canadian party colour |	Gordon Benjamin Isnor	Liberal	rowspan="7" Template:Canadian party colour |	Robert Emmett Finn	Liberal
19th	1940–1945	William Chisholm Macdonald
20th	1945–1947
	1947–1949	John Dickey
21st	1949–1950
	1950–1953		Samuel Rosborough Balcom
22nd	1953–1957
23rd	1957–1958	rowspan="3"Template:Canadian party colour |	Robert McCleave	Progressive Conservative	rowspan="3"Template:Canadian party colour |	Edmund L. Morris	Progressive Conservative
24th	1958–1962
25th	1962–1963
26th	1963–1965	Template:Canadian party colour |	John Lloyd	Liberal	Template:Canadian party colour |	Gerald Regan	Liberal
27th	1965–1968	Template:Canadian party colour |	Robert McCleave	Progressive Conservative	Template:Canadian party colour |	Michael Forrestall	Progressive Conservative

Single member riding (1968–present)

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
Halifax
28th	1968–1972	rowspan="4"Template:Canadian party colour |	Robert Stanfield	Progressive Conservative
29th	1972–1974
30th	1974–1979
31st	1979–1980	George Cooper
32nd	1980–1984	Template:Canadian party colour |	Gerald Regan	Liberal
33rd	1984–1988	Template:Canadian party colour |	Stewart McInnes	Progressive Conservative
34th	1988–1993	rowspan="2" Template:Canadian party colour |	Mary Clancy	Liberal
35th	1993–1997
36th	1997–2000	rowspan="6" Template:Canadian party colour |	Alexa McDonough	New Democratic
37th	2000–2004
38th	2004–2006
39th	2006–2008
40th	2008–2011	Megan Leslie
41st	2011–2015
42nd	2015–2019	rowspan="3" Template:Canadian party colour |	Andy Fillmore	Liberal
43rd	2019–2021
44th	2021–2024
	2024–2025	Template:Canadian party colour |	Vacant
45th	2025-present	rowspan="1" Template:Canadian party colour |	Shannon Miedema	Liberal

Election results

2025 cancelled by-election

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2021

2021 federal election redistributed results<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation				CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Party		Vote	%
Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal	20,087	42.24
Template:Canadian party colour |	New Democratic	19,160	40.29
Template:Canadian party colour |	Conservative	6,062	12.75
Template:Canadian party colour |	Green	1,052	2.21
Template:Canadian party colour |	People's	1,003	2.11
Template:Canadian party colour |	Others	192	0.40

2015

2011 federal election redistributed results<ref>Pundits' Guide to Canadian Elections</ref>
Party		Vote	%
Template:Canadian party colour |	New Democratic	23,761	51.62
Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal	11,805	25.64
Template:Canadian party colour |	Conservative	8,292	18.01
Template:Canadian party colour |	Green	2,023	4.39
Template:Canadian party colour |	Marxist-Leninist	152	0.33

2004

2000 federal election redistributed results
Party		Vote	%
Template:Canadian party colour |	New Democratic	17,548	41.56
Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal	13,453	31.86
Template:Canadian party colour |	Progressive Conservative	7,487	17.73
Template:Canadian party colour |	Alliance	2,570	6.09
Template:Canadian party colour |	Others	1,169	2.77

1993

1993 federal election redistributed results<ref>Pundit's Guide to Canadian Elections - Internet Archive</ref>
Party		Vote	%
Template:Canadian party colour |	Liberal	21,210	47.42
Template:Canadian party colour |	Progressive Conservative	9,677	21.63
Template:Canadian party colour |	Reform	6,151	13.75
Template:Canadian party colour |	New Democratic	5,469	12.23
Template:Canadian party colour |	Others	2,225	4.97

1867–1968: two members

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Template:1896 Canadian federal election/Halifax Approximately 13,000 valid ballots were cast in this election.<ref>http://canadianelectionsdatabase.ca/PHASE5/?p=0&type=election&ID=294</ref>

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Template:1891 Canadian federal election/Halifax Approximately 10,000 valid ballots cast in this election.<ref>http://canadianelectionsdatabase.ca/PHASE5/?p=0&type=election&ID=293 accessed April 1, 2025</ref>

Template:1887 Canadian federal election/Halifax Approximately 8500 valid ballots cast in this election.<ref>http://canadianelectionsdatabase.ca/PHASE5/?p=0&type=election&ID=292 accessed April 1, 2025</ref>

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Template:1882 Canadian federal election/Halifax Approximately 5500 valid ballots cast in this election.<ref>http://canadianelectionsdatabase.ca/PHASE5/?p=0&type=election&ID=291 accessed April 1, 2025</ref>

Template:1878 Canadian federal election/Halifax Approximately 6300 ballots cast in this election.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20240122060432/http://canadianelectionsdatabase.ca/PHASE5/?p=0&type=election&ID=290#page_1=nova-scotia&page_2=constituency_2327 accessed April 1, 2025</ref>

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Template:1872 Canadian federal election/Halifax 4948 valid ballots cast.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20240122060504/http://canadianelectionsdatabase.ca/PHASE5/?p=0&type=election&ID=288#page_1=nova-scotia&page_2=constituency_2327 accessed April 1, 2025</ref>

Template:1867 Canadian federal election/Halifax 4480 voted out of 5958 eligible voters.<ref>http://canadianelectionsdatabase.ca/PHASE5/?p=0&type=election&ID=286 accessed April 1, 2025</ref>

See also

• List of Canadian electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada

References

• Template:SCref

External links

• Riding history for Halifax (1867– ) from the Library of Parliament