Nova Scotia·NewThe team behind the African Nova Scotian Road to Economic Prosperity Plan is asking Halifax for $1 million from the upcoming city budget, and that amount annually for the next five years. Members of African Nova Scotian Road to Economic Prosperity Plan ask for $1M in upcoming budgetHaley Ryan · CBC News · Posted: Nov 20, 2025 6:05 PM EST | Last Updated: 25 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Irvine Carvery is the co-chair of the Road to Economic Prosperity Council. (Kathleen McKenna/CBC)Irvine Carvery has been a community leader and advocate for Halifax’s Black community for decades, but says he has never seen anything like the impact stemming from the African Nova Scotian Road to Economic Prosperity Plan.Carvery, co-chair of the council guiding the plan, spoke to Halifax’s community planning and economic development committee Thursday alongside co-chair Dolly Williams.”This work has been transformative, in terms of community feeling good about themselves,” Carvery said.”The African Nova Scotian communities are starting to get their feet under them, they’re starting to lead their own initiatives.”The plan began as a community-led strategy endorsed by Halifax council in 2020, aimed at tackling systemic barriers and improving economic and quality-of-life outcomes for Black Nova Scotians.Curtis Whiley speaks during the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust launch event in January 2024. (Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust)It has grown to involve planning and engagement staff, and the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, African Nova Scotian Affairs Integration Office and the Halifax Partnership, working alongside the community members involved in the prosperity plan.According to a staff report, work has included new community action plans for Beechville, Lucasville and Upper Hammonds Plains that could involve residents guiding development policy, heritage and infrastructure projects, or advocating for transit.North Preston carried out a survey earlier this year to inform their plan, and East Preston has started organizing to begin that consultation.Black Nova Scotian communities have also seen parks and recreation upgrades, sidewalks, work on clearing land titles, and creating land trusts.The years-long Cogswell District project had about 10 per cent of construction hours done by Black Nova Scotian workers, and $1.1 million in services were provided by Black Nova Scotian suppliers.Halifax has spent about $365,000 annually on the plan in the past few years, but Carvery said they are requesting $1 million from Halifax this year, and that same amount for the upcoming years of the new 2026-2031 strategy.”Our community has been neglected for a very long time. We are catching up,” Carvery said. “[This] is to ensure that this work continues at the appropriate level within our communities.”The historic Beechville Baptist Church is a landmark in the community that was founded more than 200 years ago by Black refugees who escaped slavery in the United States. (Craig Paisley/CBC)Coun. Trish Purdy said Halifax councillors are facing tough decisions in the upcoming budget as the city faces a possible 10.5 per cent property tax hike, and asked what the impact would be if council does not deliver the entire request.Dolly Williams said Black Nova Scotians have given “our blood, our sweat, our tears” to Halifax and the province, and fought for years to get the same investments other communities take for granted.”I don’t wanna hear that we’re not gonna get the money we asked for, because … reparation is long overdue for our Black communities,” Williams said.”I don’t want to see us going backwards, because too many times we’ve come to this table, and gone back to, ‘Oh we can’t do it anymore.'”Dolly Williams in a file photo from October 2022. Williams says it is vital for Halifax to continue funding the African Nova Scotian Road to Economic Prosperity Plan. (David Laughlin/CBC)Carvery said it’s easy to support things during good economic times, but it’s during leaner times that “you show your true commitment to the community.”Purdy and multiple other councillors thanked Carvery and Williams for their work.”There’s areas that just we cannot miss, and I believe strongly that that’s the work that you’re doing,” said Coun. Becky Kent.The new five-year plan will see work expanding to Truro and other Black Nova Scotian communities outside Halifax, and set up the group as a secretariat. This will allow them to remain independent while working with governments to create policies informed by residents, they said.Carolann Wright, executive director of the prosperity plan, told the committee they will send a similar annual request to the province and are also looking for private donors.The Halifax committee asked for a staff report on the request to come back over the next few months, to inform the 2026-27 budget that will be finalized next spring. For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.MORE TOP STORIES ABOUT THE AUTHORHaley Ryan is the municipal affairs reporter for CBC covering mainland Nova Scotia. Got a story idea? Send an email to haley.ryan@cbc.ca, or reach out on Twitter @hkryan17.
Black N.S. economic group asks Halifax for funds to continue ‘transformative’ work
