Ottawa Allocates Nearly $2 Million to Prevent Gang Violence in Halifax

Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree speaks during a press conference at Cartier Square Drill Hall in Ottawa on March 12, 2026. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

The federal government will provide up to $1.98 million to support gang violence prevention in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said this week.

The funding is being provided through the Building Safer Communities Fund (BSCF), which provides funding to municipalities and indigenous communities to support local efforts to address the causes of gang violence, the government said on Sept. 29.

In March, Ottawa announced $157.5 million over the next three years for the fund, selecting municipalities and indigenous communities based on the nature and severity of crime in their jurisdiction, Public Safety Canada says.

The funding is part of a larger expenditure of $1.5 billion over the past 10 years to strengthen law enforcement and gang prevention programs, including the Initiative to Take Action Against Gun Violence, the government says.

Public Safety Canada says one of the aims of the BSCF is to guide youth away from guns and gangs by providing them with more opportunities.

Anandasangaree has travelled to other provinces this year to make announcements for local BSCF allocations, including to Winnipeg, Calgary, and New Westminster, B.C.

The funding comes as Halifax has experienced fluctuations in violent crime in recent years. According to Statistics Canada data, Halifax’s violent crime measures increased in the years following the pandemic, peaking around 2022 and 2023 before declining in 2024. In 2025, the broader Crime Severity Index fell by 6.4 percent compared with 2024, although the volume of violent incidents increased slightly, by 1.5 percent.

In 2025, the Halifax Regional Municipality recorded nine homicides and 31 shootings. During the first half of the year, Halifax Regional Police and the RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment reported 19 shooting incidents and four firearm-related homicides. Shootings declined by 25 percent in the second half of the year compared with the same period in 2024, while one firearm-related homicide was recorded.

Police also seized 547 firearms across the Halifax Regional Municipality during the second half of 2025, a 10 percent increase from the same period the previous year.

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