Eastern Passage is an unincorporated suburban community in

Halifax Regional Municipality Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. Eastern Passage has historically been tied to the fishing industry. Its waterfront has several small wharves and piers. The construction of

CFB Shearwater Shearwater Heliport , formerly known as Canadian Forces Base Shearwater and commonly referred to as CFB Shearwater and formerly named HMCS ''Shearwater'', is a Canadian Forces facility located east-southeast of Shearwater, Nova Scotia, on the ...

, a military air base, at the northern boundary of the community during World War I, and the construction of the Imperial Oil (later Esso), Texaco (later Ultramar) oil refineries, the

Volvo Halifax Assembly The Volvo Halifax Assembly Plant located in Halifax, Nova Scotia was opened on 11 June 1963 by Prince Bertil. It was the second assembly plant Volvo opened outside of Sweden and the third non-domestic auto plant in North America after Fiat and R ...

plant and automobile import/export facility following World War II redefined the local economy. New highway connections have resulted in the majority of area residents commuting to

Downtown Halifax Downtown Halifax is the primary central business district of the Municipality of Halifax. Located on the central-eastern portion of the Halifax Peninsula, on Halifax Harbour. Along with Downtown Dartmouth, and other de facto central business di ...

or Dartmouth.

History

Prior to the European settlers, Eastern Passage was a season home to the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

for thousands of years. Europeans began seasonal use of the channel starting about 1712 while the Mi'kmaq shifted to McNab's island. The Eastern Passage area was granted to ranger

Joseph Gorham Joseph Gorham (sometimes recorded as Goreham, 1725–1790) was an American colonial military officer during King George's War and later a British army commander during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. He is best known ...

, but he did not settle the passage and the land was regranted in 1798 to Jacob Horn, the first recorded settler who was soon followed by other families. The first European settlers who moved there were mainly

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, French, Irish and English. These

ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

s continue to make up a large portion of the population of Eastern Passage.

Fort Clarence Fort Clarence is a now defunct fortification that is located in Rochester, Kent, England. History The archway by the fort's drawbridge was demolished in the 1930s. The fort, on the left, is now converted into flats. The fort was built bet ...

(formerly the Eastern Battery), a large gun battery was constructed beside Eastern Passage in 1754 at the beginning of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. Built to defend the harbour, the battery provided a cross fire with batteries on Georges Island and

McNabs Island McNabs Island (formerly Cornwallis Island) is the largest island in Halifax Harbour located in Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia, Canada. It played a major role in defending Halifax Harbour and is now a provincial park. The island was se ...

. In the late 1790s a

Martello Tower Martello towers are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. They stand up to high (with two floors) and typica ...

was built at each of the three sites. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, The iron Confederate naval cruiser ''

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

'' sailed into

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural har ...

on August 18, 1864, to take on bunker

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

and water and then used the Eastern Passage channel to escape, for it was believed that Union naval forces were waiting at the main harbour entrance. An American naval air station was constructed at Eastern Passage during World War I to patrol against German submarines. It was taken over by the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

in the 1920s and became a large air base during World War II. In the 1920s and 1930s, a number of Eastern Passage residents from the Hartlan and Henneberry families proved important sources of Canadian folk songs and stories to Nova Scotia folklorist Helen Creighton. During the second world war Hartlen's Point was bought out in order to build a military complex at the mouth of the harbor. This complex was called the Devil's Battery and is located underground. Serious reductions to the

base in the 1990s and the shutdown of the Ultramar Refinery challenged the economy of Eastern Passage in the 1990s. One response was the redevelopment of the small craft harbor, long known as "the Crick" or "the cove" but rechristened in 1996 as "Fisherman's Cove", a tourist attraction which combines a working fishing harbour with gift shops and restaurants. In 1996 Fisherman's Cove opened as a tourist attraction. The attraction had things such as shops and restaurants. In the summer of 2003, the fourth season of ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary television sitcom created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer park resi ...

'' was filmed in Eastern Passage. It was the last season of the show filmed in a privately held park.

Geography

Located at the southeastern edge of

, fronting the Atlantic Ocean, Eastern Passage derives its name from the narrow strait separating the mainland from Lawlor Island and

, both of which lie several hundred metres west of the community. This "Eastern Passage" into the harbour is not the main shipping channel due to its shallow depths; the main shipping channel lies west of McNabs Island. The Eastern Passage is largely used by small recreational boats and fishing vessels during inclement weather as the island affords shelter from prevailing winds. The community is south--south-west of Cow Bay, and south-east of

Shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These tube ...

, and has 1,372 hectares (13.72 km²) of landmass.

Schools

Ocean View Elementary School

*Type: Elementary *Grades: Primary to 3 *Constructed: 1954 *Current Square Footage: . *Website: http://www.oves.ednet.ns.ca/

Horizon Elementary School

*Type: Elementary *Grades: Primary to 3, including French Immersion *Constructed: 1991 *Current Square Footage: . *Website: https://hes.hrce.ca/ *Whether elementary students attend Ocean View or Horizon is dependent on where they live in the respective school's catchment area, or if they are enrolled in the French Immersion program.

Seaside Elementary

*Type: SR. Elementary *Grades: 4, 5 *Constructed: 1974 ''(opened as Eastern Passage Junior High School)'' *Current Square Footage: . *Website: http://ses.hrsb.ca/

Eastern Passage Education Centre

*Type: Junior High *Grades: 6 to 8 *Constructed: 1999 *Current Square Footage: . *Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20170118042707/http://epe.hrsb.ca/

Island View High School

* Type: High School * Grades: 9 to 12 * Constructed: 2018 * Current Square Footage: 78,575 sq ft (7,300 m²) * Website: https://ivh.hrce.ca/

Island View High School Island View High School is a Canadian public high school located on 1853 Caldwell Road in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia (Canada). Opening in Fall 2018, students attending the school were greeted by a large committee of other high schoolers, organ ...

opened its doors to students on September 8, 2018, after a long fight from the community for their own High School.

Parks and recreation

Beaches

Several beaches are in the area. McCormick's Beach is located at Fisherman's Cove near the boardwalk. A salt water beach (Rainbow Haven Beach), is located towards the Cow Bay area of the community. A large serviced beach (MacDonald Beach) is located between Eastern Passage and Cole Harbour. There is also a smaller beach located down the road from MacDonald Beach.

Clubs, groups, and organizations

Hartlen Point Golf Club is also located in Eastern Passage. Opened in 1965 the club is located next to the Devils Battery which is a military complex including tunnels and bunkers.

Guides and Scouts

There are several active

Scouts Canada Scouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that provides programs for young people ages 5 to 26. It aims "to help develop well-rounded youth, better prepared for success in the world." Scouts Canada, in affiliation with the French-language ...

and

Girl Guides of Canada Girl Guides of Canada (GGC; ) is the national Guiding association of Canada. Guiding in Canada started on September 7, 1910, and GGC was among the founding members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) in 1928. Histo ...

groups in Eastern Passage, such as 2nd an
3rd Eastern Passage
Scouting Groups.

Sea Cadets

Eastern Passage is home to Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Iroquois and 24 magnificent, recipient of the Convoy Shield for the most proficient Sea Cadet Corps in the Maritime area.

Community centres

*Horizon Recreation Centre

Fields

There is a large

playing field Play is a range of Motivation#Intrinsic and extrinsic, intrinsically motivated activities done for recreation. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other high ...

at Eastern Passage Education Centre, and numerous baseball and general purpose fields located within the vicinity of the three elementary schools. A public tennis court is located near Seaside Elementary. Th
Horizon Recreation Centre
(located in the Horizon Community School building) often has various activities going on year-round.

Parks

*MacCormick's Beach Provincial Park *Oceanview Skate Park *Sand Key Drive Park There are several parks and playgrounds in the area. Two playgrounds are located in the Heritage Hills subdivision (on Melrose and Serop Crescent, respectively), and there are playgrounds at Horizon, Oceanview, and Seaside schools. In August 2006, a new skateboard park opened near Seaside Elementary. Around 2016 a dirt BMX park, originally promised by at the time MLA, Becky Kent, was built.

Youth sports

Eastern Passage hosts a variety of youth sport programs that includes baseball, basketball, soccer, and softball. Eastern Passage Tigers Basketball is a youth basketball organization. United DFC was formed in 2016, when four former soccer clubs (Cole Harbour Soccer, Dartmouth F.C., Dartmouth United, and Eastern Passage Soccer) merged and created ''United DFC''. It is organized by Soccer Nova Scotia and features both mini--and--youth leagues. Mini soccer includes Under-6, U-8 and U-10 teams, which are composed of both boys and girls. Youth soccer is divided by gender; it includes U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-18 teams. Registration for soccer starts in February and is open until June for both mini and youth leagues, and the soccer season ends in August. For years, the former Eastern Passage Soccer hosted the Dartmouth region’s year-end mini festival, which is called ''Soccer By The Sea''.

Trails

*Kinsale Court Community Path *Shearwater Flyer Trail *Tanner's Eastern Passage Trail

Demographics

Although there is not any recent information that regards population from the 2016 census, or 2021 census, there is information from the 2011 census that records 11,738 people lived within the boundaries of Eastern Passage. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, the population density of the community was 855 people per km².

Services

Water

While much of the community is serviced by municipal water, areas on the outer edges of the community require the use of well water and septic systems.

Telecommunications

All of Eastern Passage is served by Aliant (

Telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

and

DSL Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric di ...

Broadband) and Eastlink (

Cable Internet access In telecommunications, cable Internet access, shortened to cable Internet, is a form of broadband internet access which uses the same infrastructure as cable television. Like digital subscriber line (DSL) and fiber to the premises, cable Internet ...

Cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...

). The area has cellular coverage for both

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a family of standards to describe the protocols for second-generation (2G) digital cellular networks, as used by mobile devices such as mobile phones and Mobile broadband modem, mobile broadba ...

( Rogers/ Fido) and

CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...

(

Telus Telus may refer to: * Telus Corporation, a Canadian publicly traded holding company ** Telus Communications, a telecommunications company ** Telus Digital, a technology company ** Telus Health, a health technology provider ** Telus Mobility T ...

/Aliant).

Health and fitness

Th
Tallahassee Recreation Centre
periodically offers fitness programs and includes a fitness centre for drop-in use. Outdoor fitness equipment is also available in the adjacent park.

Public transportation

Eastern Passage is served by

Halifax Transit Halifax Transit is a Canadian public transport service operating buses and ferries in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Founded as Metro Transit in March 1981, the agency runs two ferry routes, 66 conventional bus routes (including corridor, local, and expre ...

routes 6B and 6C, which link the community to the Woodside Ferry Terminal as well as the Bridge Terminal in Dartmouth.

References

External links

*
Eastern Passage community websiteFisherman's Cove
{{Authority control Communities in Halifax, Nova Scotia Populated coastal places in Canada