Dykeland system upgrades

Protecting communities and agricultural land from climate change.

Nova Scotia’s dykeland system protects agricultural land, public infrastructure, cultural assets and commercial and residential properties throughout the province. The system needs to be upgraded to reduce the potential economic, environmental and social effects of climate change as storms increase in intensity and frequency.

In 2019, an 8-year, almost $50 million project began to upgrade some of the most vulnerable sites in the province. This project will protect natural infrastructure that’s primarily for public use. Without upgrades, the sites are at high risk of damage from climate change.

The dykeland upgrades will improve more than 25% of Nova Scotia’s 241 kilometres of dykeland along the Bay of Fundy. These sites provide flood protection to tens of thousands of residents and businesses, vineyards, historical and world heritage sites, Mi'kmaq communities and more than 20,000 hectares of farmland.

The sites being upgraded include 60 kilometres of dykeland and 5 aboiteaux in 4 dykeland systems: Cumberland Basin, Cobequid Bay, Southern Bight and the Annapolis River. Sites were selected based on damage caused by climate change, the dykes’ vulnerability to breaching and the communities, agricultural land and infrastructure that the dykeland protects.

The upgrades are funded equally by the provincial and federal government through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.

Project mandate

The goals of this project are to:

  • to mitigate the potential economic, environmental, and social impacts of climate change
  • to improve the resilience of Nova Scotia’s dykeland systems
  • to develop sustainable solutions while maintaining agricultural land and infrastructure to the maximum extent possible

Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund