Our Story
Engage Nova Scotia is an independent non-profit whose story began in June 2012. Seventy-five Nova Scotians from different regions and with different perspectives gathered to consider how our province could do better. We expressed a belief in the promise of Nova Scotia and the desire to be more innovative, collaborative, and adaptive to change.
We held several public gatherings to understand what people believed and desired, and learned of many initiatives that were making a difference in communities. We also learned that many Nova Scotians felt left behind.
They shared their love for this province, and that the challenges we face must be fixed with a deeper understanding of issues, a long-term vision, and a relentless commitment to sustained action.
After Engage was founded the Ivany Commission was established. It pointed to similar themes
– particularly the need for us to overcome traditional “barriers of division, distrust and discouragement.”
It also pointed to our work as being important in addressing these challenges.
Since Engage Nova Scotia began:
The Nova Scotia Quality of Life Initiative has been our primary focus since 2017.
Our SDG project is an opportunity to collaborate on actions for sustainable, equitable, and inclusive futures.
Communities across Nova Scotia have worked with us to strengthen their public engagement capacity.
We worked with Mi’kmaw and Municipal governments to foster more opportunities to collaborate with each other.
Share Thanksgiving was an annual event to welcome newcomers to Nova Scotia from 2014-2018.