Dalhousie is the largest research institution in Atlantic Canada, and one of the largest organizations in Nova Scotia, it has both the administrative capacity and the research expertise to undertake the project in a timely manner.

The Province of Nova Scotia required external support for this work, and they asked Dalhousie to help. 

As a research university, Dalhousie values opportunities to advance knowledge with partners and to have research inform public policy and support decision making. As Nova Scotia’s flagship university, Dalhousie is committed to serving the people of this province.

Dalhousie has been asked to administer $30M from the Province to:

Administer the research and engagement initiatives ($5.7M) including undertaking research to determine baseline infrastructure, environmental, etc. data; providing expert opinion on exploration and research findings in a report to the Province; and engaging with communities/public as needed in respect of the project.

• Administer a $24.3M reimbursement program for participating firms.
• Administer the research and engagement initiatives ($5.7M) including undertaking research to determine baseline infrastructure, environmental, etc. data; providing expert opinion on exploration and research findings in a report to the Province; and engaging with communities/public as needed in respect of the project.

The budget for this program is $30,000,000, which the university will use to administer the program and all operations. The university is not being paid. 

Dalhousie’s Vice President Research and Innovation (VPRI) has accountability for the delivery of this project and will be supported by a Project Manager and advised by an Oversight Committee, a Management Committee, and Technical Advisory Committee.

The Subsurface Energy Research and Development Investment Program is focused on improving understanding of Nova Scotia’s subsurface resources and establishing credible scientific and environmental information. Dalhousie University’s role is to administer the program, support independent research and facilitate public and community engagement. The research being undertaken is intended to inform policy discussions by providing evidence and analysis.

Decisions about regulations developed under the Subsurface Energy Resource Extraction Act remain within the government’s established legislative and regulatory processes.

Dalhousie recognizes that questions related to subsurface energy development, including hydraulic fracturing, are of significant public interest.

Dalhousie’s role is not to advocate for a particular policy outcome, but to contribute research capacity and expertise that can help inform future decisions.

Dalhousie will oversee public and stakeholder engagement with particular focus on research and the exploratory drilling program, including through its relationships with First Nations. 

John R. Syllaboy, Vice-Provost, Indigenous Relations at Dalhousie University is on the Oversight Committee and John will be connecting with Chiefs and elders and connecting with community to ensure that there is an awareness and a dialogue associated with this project.

Dalhousie University’s role is to administer the program, support independent research, and facilitate public and community engagement. The research being undertaken is intended to inform policy discussions by providing evidence and analysis.

Dalhousie and other Nova Scotia university researchers will establish key environmental, geological, and infrastructure baselines to inform evidence-based decisions about future development. This includes drilling analysis, groundwater and methane monitoring, seismic conditions, and transport infrastructure needs. 

Researchers will assess the findings of exploratory drilling and community readiness research and provide expert opinion in the form of a Report, submitted to the Province by December 31, 2026. Ownership of the report and its contents rests with the Province.

This is a very public project which to date has been very transparent. The program agreement between the Province of NS and Dalhousie University was made public along with the call for participation, program and research details and the program schedule. Following the exploratory drilling, research and public and stakeholder engagement, a Final Report will be produced by Dalhousie and provided to the Province. The report will provide expert opinion based on exploratory drilling findings and community engagement results.

The agreement between Dalhousie University and the Province of Nova Scotia includes a standard confidentiality clause that is commonly used when sensitive information is shared between parties. Its purpose is to ensure information is handled responsibly and not retained longer than necessary.

Dalhousie will provide the Final Report to the Province. The Province will determine next steps.

Yes. Once drilling sites are identified, there will be additional opportunities for dialogue and engagement as part of the regulatory approval process through the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change. 

No person or company is allowed to enter onto any land in Nova Scotia to explore for or produce petroleum without explicit permission of the landowner. This is detailed in the Petroleum Resources Act and duplicated in the new Subsurface Energy Resource Extraction Act which will come into force at a later date.

It is up to the company to negotiate land access agreements with landowners, and proof must be given to the Province as part of any activity authorization application.

This report examined environmental and health risks, especially related to hydraulic fracturing, but it was written when the science and technology were still developing. Things have come a long way since then.

Dalhousie will oversee public and stakeholder engagement with particular focus on research and the exploratory drilling program, see engagement section for more information.

The Subsurface R&D Investment Program is an incentive program. We don’t have the equipment or the trained professionals here in Nova Scotia today. The intent is to help incent this industry to start looking at Nova Scotia again and see if it is viable by offsetting some very specific costs. Industry will also need to invest their own dollars. 

From a research standpoint, the data that will come from the exploratory drilling is fundamental. 

The ability to answer questions related to Nova Scotia’s geology and whether it is conductive to natural gas, that requires equipment and trained professionals drilling here in Nova Scotia.   

Operators are required to hold a minimum of $10 million in insurance coverage, and must provide the province with sufficient financial security prior to drilling to ensure wells can be decommissioned and abandoned if the company becomes insolvent. 

The location of the water source is typically close to where the activity occurs. Based on the Nova Scotia Department of Energy evaluations, the Cumberland and Windsor basins are most likely to see activity. Drilling in those areas would require water from within or near identified drilling locations in those areas.    

The first step for projects will be to drill new exploration wells. While stimulation activities like hydraulic fracturing are eligible under the program, those techniques are not part of the drilling exploration wells and any applications to do this would come later in the process. Any activity conducted as part of the program would be related to this exploratory phase. The findings would be intended to inform any potential future production phases. 

Hydraulic fracturing is the conventional approach used today. Approximately 99% of wells drilled in North America are stimulated. 

Water use per well can vary widely, ranging from 2,000 cubic metres (less than one Olympic swimming pool of water) to as high as 75,000 cubic metres (about 30 Olympic swimming pools of water) in exceptional cases. 

Most often fresh water is used.

Fresh water is extensively used in Nova Scotia for potable household water, farming and industrial processes.

In rural Nova Scotia, most of the domestic fresh water is accessed through onsite well systems that tap into the natural water table or springs. Towns and villages may have water treatment and management systems with piped infrastructure sourced from lakes, rivers or aqueducts.

Industrial uses are mostly sourced from lakes and rivers with government oversight ensuring sustainability and post-use treatment.

Natural gas does not always move easily through tight rock such as shale, so modern production creates small pathways to help the gas flow into a well.

1.  Water, along with smaller amounts of sand and additives, is pumped into the well at high pressure.

2.  The water pressure opens narrow cracks in the rock or shale, and sand particles are driven into the cracks.

3.  Once pumping stops, some of the water flows back up the wellbore to the surface where it is recovered. The sand remaining in the narrow cracks keeps them propped open, allowing gas to move more freely to the surface. 

A well is typically only fractured once and will produce for 20-30 years without additional water requirements.

Hydraulic fracturing in Canada uses a significant amount of water. There is no national dataset, but the clearest picture comes from provinces like Alberta and British Columbia.

In Alberta, a total of about 30 million cubic metres of water is used annually for fracturing, and in British Columbia (BC) the figure sits at about 7.5 million cubic metres.

Given the smaller size of Nova Scotia’s natural gas formations, it is expected that significantly less water would be used here than in either BC or Alberta.

The industry overall has moved toward using less freshwater by implementing systems that use recycled water and brackish water sources.

Data from the Alberta Energy Regulator shows that water allocation from hydraulic fracturing is less than one percent of the total amount of water allocated each year to all sectors. Agriculture, by way of comparison, uses 46% of allocated water.

In Nova Scotia, many industries use significant volumes of surface water, including thermal power generation and pulp and paper plants. These sectors individually can draw more surface water annually than is used in the entirety of all hydraulic fracturing events in Alberta and British Columbia.

Hydraulic fracturing in Canada is regulated provincially, but across the country the approach is similar. Canadian provinces don’t manage hydraulic fracturing water impacts through a single approach. Instead, they combine strict water controls, monitoring, and operational requirements to reduce risks to both groundwater and surface water.

The overall philosophy is to limit withdrawals, protect groundwater aquifers, and track everything.

• The amount of water that can be withdrawn is dependent on the amount of water available in a jurisdiction – especially during low-flow or drought conditions.
• Wells are built with multiple layers of steel casing and cement to keep fracturing fluids and natural gas well away from drinking water aquifers.
• Storage tanks and containment systems are used to safely manage fluids on site. Closed-loop fluid systems may also be used.
• Provinces require baseline testing and ongoing monitoring of groundwater and surface water so any changes can be detected and investigated.
• Wastewater from fracturing is tightly managed, and increasingly recycled and reused to reduce the need for new freshwater.

The result is not zero impact, but a system designed to reduce risk, protect drinking water and manage water use responsibly, with effectiveness varying by province depending on the infrastructure and regulatory focus.

In Nova Scotia, oil and gas activities are governed by an approval and enforcement system that prioritizes protection of groundwater and surface water. Each drilling contractor will have to be approved and will need to comply with the requirements.

If a drilling project causes, or is suspected to cause, an impact to drinking water or the environment, regulators can issue an immediate order to suspend operations. 

The operator is then required to:

1.        Investigate and report the cause of the impact

2.        Manage and remedy any contamination

3.        Provide an alternate water supply to affected users

The Nova Scotia government can also impose further compliance orders, penalties, or long-term restrictions if needed.

All of the natural gas we use in Nova Scotia today comes from somewhere else – primarily the US Northeast and Western Canada. This gas is moved across long distances through a network of natural gas pipelines. This transmission is expensive, and adds to the money Nova Scotians are sending out of province for their energy needs. By responsibly producing our own resource, gas users in Nova Scotia will not have to pay the same transportation costs, reducing the delivered price of gas.

For comparison, Nova Scotians pay in the range of $15 a unit for natural gas (that comes from the US and Alberta), whereas Albertans pay in the range of $2 a unit.

Natural gas is already a significant fuel source in the Nova Scotia energy mix. Nova Scotia’s natural gas distributor – Eastward Energy serves 5,000 residential and 3,500 commercial and institutional customers. One third of homes and 44% of businesses that have access to natural gas use it.

Nova Scotia has pipeline infrastructure and a distribution network in place to deliver natural gas to customers. Industries, apartments, schools, hospitals, and homes use natural gas for energy. Nova Scotia Power also uses natural gas to generate electricity.

In 2025, 12% of the electricity in Nova Scotia came from natural gas, all of it imported. Two per cent came from oil and 38% came from coal. The province’s Independent Energy System Operator (IESO Nova Scotia) has proposed two new fast acting natural gas plants to provide electricity when the province is scheduled to stop using coal by 2030.

Nova Scotia cannot flip a switch to zero emissions. Renewables are increasingly used in power systems yet face intermittency, storage, and grid infrastructure limits. Fast acting natural gas generation alleviates the shortcomings and enables more renewables to be used. Natural gas use provides a pathway over time. As the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, natural gas can be a good choice for transitioning to a zero-emission economy.

Enough research has been conducted to demonstrate that onshore natural gas production could yield impressive results. This program will undertake research to update information in four key areas:

1. What’s underground: How much natural gas do we have, and can it be extracted safely and economically?
2. Environmental risks: How could development affect water, ecosystems, and air quality?
3. Community health: What could development mean for people’s health and well-being?
4. Infrastructure and rules: Do we have the roads, services, and regulations needed to manage this type of activity?

The Wheeler report examined environmental and health risks, especially related to hydraulic fracturing, but it was written when the science and technology were still developing.  The science has developed considerably since then.

So yes, Nova Scotia has looked at these questions before, but the main studies are either limited or out of date.

1. The Onshore Petroleum Atlas (2013–2017) This was the first major effort to map where natural gas exists. The current research program builds on this foundational work by applying modern tools and analytical methods.
2. The Wheeler Report (2014) This report examined environmental and health risks, especially related to hydraulic fracturing, but it was written when science and technology were still developing.

In the past decade, the environmental and health evidence has evolved substantially:

• Methane (the main component in Natural Gas) emissions are now recognized as a major factor in climate change and air quality decisions.
• Earthquake risks (induced seismicity) are better understood and can now be actively monitored and managed.
• Modern regulations and technologies have advanced in places like British Columbia, offering updated examples of how development can be governed.

Under this Program research projects will be completed to better understand the potential and risks of shale-based natural gas exploration and production in the province.

Research design will:

1. Measure conditions before anything happens. We need to understand what things look like today – for water, air, and seismic activity – so any future changes can be properly identified.
2. Focus on local conditions. The Alberta or British Columbia experiences are significant, but research must also consider our local geology, ecosystems, and communities.
3. Include health and community impacts from the start. Questions about people’s health and well-being should be treated as core considerations, not secondary concerns.

Several research projects are being undertaken that will run in parallel with the industry exploration projects:

Geological Studies: This project analyzes old geological and seismic data using modern tools and integrates any new drilling data as it becomes available.

This research is needed because earlier studies relied on older methods and did not fully test the resource.

Modern Drilling & Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Review: This project will review how drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies have changed over the past decade and evaluate if these modern practices can be applied in Nova Scotia.

This research is needed because much of the public discussion is based on older technologies that may no longer reflect current practice.

Water Monitoring & Protection: This project monitors current groundwater and surface water conditions before any activity is undertaken. It also studies how wastewater from drilling can best be managed using examples from other jurisdictions.

This research is needed because protecting drinking water, ecosystems, and wetlands is one of the most important concerns for communities.

Community Health & Communication: This project reviews evidence from other regions and works with healthcare providers to understand potential health concerns related to onshore natural gas development, combined with community demographics.

This research is needed because communities need trustworthy, understandable health information to make informed decisions.

Transportation & Infrastructure Readiness: This project studies roads, traffic, and local infrastructure to understand how communities might handle increased activity.

This research is needed to understand whether communities are physically prepared, or what upgrades might be required.

Seismicity (Earthquake) Monitoring: This project installs new sensors to measure natural background seismic activity in Nova Scotia. It helps distinguish between naturally occurring seismic activity and any that could be linked to human activity.

This research is needed so that any future activity can be monitored responsibly and understood in context.

Methane Emissions Measurement & Monitoring: This project measures methane levels across Nova Scotia to understand what is naturally present and what comes from human activity. It also monitors emissions during any exploratory drilling and reviews how methane leakage from oil and gas production is regulated in other regions.

This research is needed because methane has become the dominant environmental and climate concern related to natural gas production.

Geoenvironmental Risk & Knowledge Gaps: This project will conduct a broad survey of the program research to identify remaining gaps in knowledge.

This research is needed to understand the limitations of the program work, and to guide future research.

All research projects are being carried out by experts in the field, primarily at Dalhousie University but also drawing in other experts from Nova Scotia universities, and in some cases private contractors that bring specific skills and experience.

All studies will report primary conclusions to the Province by the end of 2026. Detailed reports will be completed by the end of Q1 2027.

The province will evaluate the information and will be responsible for its dissemination.

The Province of Nova Scotia’s Petroleum Resources Act governs all aspects of exploration, development and production of onshore natural gas, ensuring all activities are conducted in a safe, efficient and orderly manner.

• The Nova Scotia Onshore Petroleum Drilling Regulations establish the permitting, operational, and reporting requirements that operators must follow to drill, complete, suspend, or abandon petroleum wells
• The Nova Scotia Environment Act requires environmental approvals and protection of water and ecosystems
• The Nova Scotia Occupational Health and Safety Act regulates safe working conditions.

To facilitate successful development of onshore gas, Nova Scotia would develop a more modern, comprehensive regulatory framework similar to those in provinces producing onshore natural gas.

The standard approach in North America to extracting natural gas in tight formations is called hydraulic fracturing, a method of using water and pressure to crack underground rock so natural gas can flow.

As of 2025, more than 200,000 wells have been hydraulically fractured safely in Canada and millions in the United States. Any natural gas project in Nova Scotia would require rigorous review including industrial approval. An industrial approval can require community consultation and outlines terms and conditions for the project, including ongoing monitoring and reporting.

Significant technological advancements have been made since The Nova Scotia’s Independent Panel on Hydraulic Fracturing report in 2014.

• Today, wells are designed to isolate groundwater from gas zones, by using multiple steel casings and cement barriers.
• Multi-stage hydraulic fracturing along horizontal wells allows more natural gas to be produced from fewer wells, with less surface land disturbance.
• Well analysis in real time is enabled through digital monitoring and automation.
• Better data analytics generate predictive modelling, which improves safety and promotes efficiency.
• A solid barrier, Wellbores have multiple layers of steel casing cemented in place to prevent gas or liquid from migrating into groundwater sources.
• Micro-seismic monitoring happens in real time. Fracture growth is tracked during fracturing operations that can be adjusted or stopped if thresholds are exceeded.

Fracturing fluid is comprised of 98.5% water and sand. A small amount of additives, many found in household products, are added to help the fluid carry sand more easily or reduce friction so it flows. Friction reducers are also used to reduce water requirements. Together, this helps improve how much gas can be recovered after the rock is fractured. Since 2012, all drillers have been required to post all the liquids in frack fluid to an online database which is publicly accessible: fracfocus.ca.

Nova Scotia has enough onshore natural gas to meet our needs for 200-240 years, and yet we currently import all our natural gas from or through the U.S., exposing the province to market volatility, supply chain constraints, and exchange‑rate risk.

These realities point to the need to understand Nova Scotia’s own subsurface resources, to make informed, evidence‑based energy and climate decisions.

One of the outcomes of this program will be updated geological, environmental, and emissions data to inform policy decisions for developing this resource. Nova Scotia’s Onshore Petroleum Atlas (2017) mapped potential resources, but it does not answer the key technical question: Is the gas recoverable?