Five things to know about Nova Scotia's plans to develop onshore natural gas

The Shell Groundbirch Saturn natural gas plant outside of Fort St. John, B.C., is pictured Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS Jonathan Hayward

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia is kicking off public consultations on its controversial plan to allow natural gas exploration more than a decade after fracking was first banned in the province.

In December, the provincial government tapped Dalhousie University to administer a program that will see university researchers and the private sector study the province’s estimated 198-billion cubic metres of onshore natural gas.

The $30-million program, which will offer companies financial incentives as they explore the province’s reserves, comes after Premier Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservatives lifted a decade-long moratorium on fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, last year. Fracking involves pumping a mix of water, sand and additives into wells at high pressure, which has been criticized by environmental groups.

Environment and Climate Change Canada is conducting ongoing research evaluating exploration and production techniques with an eye to prevent air and water pollution and other impacts. Fracking can sometimes be linked to earthquakes, but the federal government says they’re usually relatively minor in scale and rarely felt.

Public meetings are being held in select communities in the coming days. Written submissions can be provided online until the end of May and, if all goes to plan, the first exploratory wells could be drilled this summer.

Here’s five things to know about the natural gas sector in Nova Scotia as the public has its say.

Natural gas history

If onshore production begins, it will not be the first time Nova Scotia has developed natural gas. Royalties from the former Sable and Deep Panuke offshore gas projects generated billions of dollars for the government, but were shut down in 2018 after 25 years of exploration and development. There’s been little private sector interest in the offshore sector since, despite 90-billion cubic metres of gas confirmed on the Scotian shelf and potential for 10 times that amount.

Onshore, about 64 per cent of the Nova Scotian reserves outlined in a 2017 government report are made up of shale gas, the kind usually requiring fracking to extract in commercial quantities. About 20 per cent of Nova Scotia’s reserves are coal bed methane with the rest conventional natural gas.

About 12 per cent of the energy currently used in Nova Scotia comes from natural gas, but it’s mostly brought in via pipeline from the U.S. with some sourced indirectly from Western Canada.

Lifting the ban

Houston’s government introduced legislation in February 2025 to lift the decade-long fracking moratorium. The premier said at the time that the changes were needed to help the province better withstand economic challenges related to U.S. tariffs. He’s called blanket resource bans “lazy policy.”

Houston has been pushing resource development as a way to bolster Nova Scotia’s sagging finances, which hit a record deficit of $1.2 billion in this year’s budget. Along with mining, gas, onshore wind and hydrogen, Houston has pitched that Nova Scotia could become an energy superpower through Wind West, a proposed $60-billion plan for offshore wind that the federal government has said it may help to fast-track. Quebec and Massachusetts have shown interest in potential exports from the project.

Onshore interest

Dalhousie issued a call for participation at the end of February and says it’s reviewing submissions from seven companies interested in natural gas exploration. Operators will be able to apply for 100 per cent reimbursement of their exploration expenses, with officials saying the government may negotiate to convert the money into equity investments. It may also sign royalty agreements.

Fracking opposition

Environmental groups, First Nations and academics have all expressed opposition.

When the fracking ban was repealed, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw chiefs slammed Houston for not consulting with their communities and said they will remain opposed to hydraulic fracturing until all their environmental concerns are addressed. Environmental groups have expressed concerns about possible water contamination, the impact of leftover tailings and carbon emissions. The provincial government has said technology has changed in recent years to make fracking safer.

Some of the sharpest criticism has come from David Wheeler, the former Cape Breton University president who chaired an independent review for the provincial government that led to the fracking ban in 2014. In an open letter Monday, Wheeler said Dalhousie and the government have based their case for development on “a shocking lack of scientific objectivity” and that Dalhousie’s involvement with private energy companies could prove to be a financial and reputational liability.

A 2014 report by the Council of Canadian Academies concluded there were numerous gaps in knowledge about the impacts of fracking on land, air and water. It also said that society’s understanding of the potential environmental impacts has not kept pace as companies continue to deploy new technologies.

“Dalhousie University will be crashing through public opinion and community objections with stakeholder outreach which appears at best to be superficial and at worst to risk serious conflict when engineering contractors show up in drilling locations with no social licence to operate,” Wheeler wrote.

Next steps

Nova Scotia and Dalhousie want to move fast. Public consultation, including with First Nations, is set for this month and the plan is to negotiate exploration agreements with gas companies in May. Exploration site selection is scheduled for the following month. If nothing changes, exploratory drilling could begin in July and wrap up in the fall. A final report on the findings is due to the province by December.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press