September 5, 2025

by Mike Kofahl & Tina Northrup

Introduction: The Energy Transition

Climate change is one of the most pressing and urgent challenges of our time. It is reshaping our environments, changing our ecosystems, and transforming our communities. Rising temperatures, stronger storms, longer droughts, and more intense wildfires are some of the dangers that lie in store because of climate change. Responding to this crisis means rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to better sources of energy.

Nova Scotia has committed to an energy transition. The Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act (“EGCCRA”) – passed in 2021 by Premier Houston’s government – sets 28 environmental goals that include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 53% by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. EGCCRA also sets a goal to have 80% of the electricity in Nova Scotia supplied by renewable energy by 2030.

Canada has also committed to an energy transition. Under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, Canada has committed to achieving 100% net-zero electricity by 2035 and to reducing 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 on the way to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

To reach these ambitious goals, Nova Scotia and Canada will need to produce much more electricity from renewable sources while also investing in energy efficiency. To address the need for renewable electricity, the Government of Canada and Government of Nova Scotia are working together to advance offshore wind development in part of the ocean around Nova Scotia. The Government of Canada and Government of Newfoundland and Labrador are also working together to advance offshore wind development in part of the ocean around Newfoundland and Labrador, but this blog post focuses on recent developments and next steps coming soon in Nova Scotia.

In 2023, the Government of Canada and Government of Nova Scotia agreed to conduct a regional assessment to assess the potential environmental, human health, and socioeconomic effects of introducing offshore wind development into Nova Scotia’s offshore. An independent committee (the “RA Committee”) was appointed to conduct the regional assessment, and the Committee completed its work in January 2025 when it delivered its final report to the federal and provincial ministers who were responsible for overseeing the process.

During the regional assessment, the RA Committee worked to identify areas of the offshore that could be particularly suitable for offshore wind development. Ultimately, the Committee recommended eight “Potential Development Areas” (“PDAs”) for consideration as the best areas to develop Nova Scotia’s first wave of offshore wind developments over the next decade.

The RA Committee’s eight PDAs were developed using an iterative process that began with consideration of the physical environment and the conditions fundamental to offshore wind development, followed by consideration of marine areas that are legally protected in some way. This iterative process was informed by feedback from Indigenous rightsholders and many stakeholders, including the public. The Committee applied constraints analyses that identified areas where offshore wind developments would conflict with the marine environment, other ocean uses, and existing and future marine protections. The areas with the fewest constraints were the areas that the Committee ultimately recommended as PDAs.

The RA Committee categorized its PDAs into two tiers, with five Tier 1 sites representing the best locations with the “least number of known constraints” and three Tier 2 sites which required further assessment and investigation. Map 1, below, taken from the Committee’s final report, shows the PDAs.

Map 1: Regional Assessment Committee’s Recommended Potential Development Areas

In addition to the PDAs, the RA Committee also recommended a 25-kilometre buffer around the entire coast of Nova Scotia and Sable Island because of the extensive risk of conflict with sensitive ecosystems and species, impacts on near-shore fisheries, overlap with established shipping routes, and visual impacts for coastal communities.

Nova Scotia’s Wind Energy Areas

Shortly after the regional assessment was completed, Natural Resources Canada and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy released a discussion paper that proposed five Wind Energy Areas (“WEAs”) for Nova Scotia’s offshore. The five WEAS proposed in the discussion paper were based on, but were not exactly the same as, the five Tier 1 PDAs that the RA Committee recommended. The discussion paper proposed that two of the WEAs—French Bank and Sydney Bight—would extend into the 25-kilometre coastal buffer that the RA Committee recommended. Most of the WEAs were also substantially increased in size compared to the PDAs that the Committee recommended.

East Coast Environmental Law submitted comments on the discussion paper to the federal and provincial governments. In our comments, we expressed support for the public process that had been informing the selection of offshore wind development areas up to that point. We strongly recommended that the coastal buffer be respected as the RA Committee had intended, and we also argued against any overlap between WEAs and marine areas that are legally protected and conserved or slated for future legal protection. In particular, we were concerned about significant overlap between the proposed Western/Emerald Bank WEA and the Western/Emerald Bank marine refuge—a marine area that is legally protected under Canada’s Fisheries Act. Our comments were consistent with submissions that we and others had made during the regional assessment, and they echoed a corresponding submission on the proposed WEAs from SeaBlue Canada.

Ultimately, the submissions of rightsholders and stakeholders appeared to hold weight, because in July 2025, Natural Resources Canada and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy announced jointly that they were designating four offshore WEAs and that they had excluded Western/Emerald Bank from designation at this time. The incursions into the coastal buffer, as proposed in the consultation paper, were also reduced: now, only French Bank incurs into the buffer area. Map 2, below, shows the location of the final four WEAs.

Map 2: Nova Scotia’s Wind Energy Areas

Next Steps for Offshore Wind Development

In the coming months, Natural Resources Canada and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy will choose specific sites with the WEAs that will be opened to a Call for Bids. The Call for Bids will be administered by the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (“CNSOER”), and it will initiate a competitive process in which offshore wind developers will bid for the right to secure submerged land licences in the offshore.

Before the Call for Bids process begins, we expect the CNLOER to issue a Call for Information that will invite rightsholder and stakeholder feedback on the sites that should be included in the Call for Bids, the criteria that should be used to evaluate bids, and draft terms and conditions of the submerged land licences that could be awarded to offshore wind developers. This will be the next opportunity for public engagement in the process to advance Canada’s new offshore wind industry.

We plan to contribute feedback during the Call for Information process once it begins. In doing so, we will continue to advocate for strong laws, policies, and regulatory processes that will support sustainable and responsible offshore wind development that advances decarbonization while also minimizing conflicts with marine ecosystem needs and other ocean users.

For more information about our work on offshore wind law and policy, use “offshore wind” as a search term in our online Resource Library to find research reports, backgrounders, speaking notes, and submissions.

Offshore Wind Series: Offshore Wind Energy Areas in Nova Scotia

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