Municipal Services

Treated Wood Disposal Ban

Created: Wednesday, 06 December 2023 11:38

As of July 5, 2023, treated wood is banned from disposal at C&D debris disposal cells by the Province of Nova Scotia as specified in the Solid Waste Resource Management Regulations.

For the 1st year, C&D debris facility operators will be providing education to residents and commercial haulers on why treated wood has been banned. Enforcement of the disposal ban will commence on July 5th, 2024.

Treated wood has been banned from disposal at C&D sites by the Province of Nova Scotia to help prevent contamination of groundwater and surface water, because:

  • Disposal cells can have large volumes of treated wood. A typical deck on a home requires about 1 tonne of treated wood, while a disposal facility can receive 100s of tonnes of treated wood each year.
  • Over time, as treated wood decays, the chemicals that are used to preserve the wood can be released.
  • Municipal solid waste landfills cells are built to prevent leakage and to detect contaminated water leakage. Contaminated water is collected and is treated before discharge into the environment. C&D debris disposal cells are not built to this same standard.

It is recommended that you keep treated wood separate during a construction, renovation, or demolition project. This will make it easier to manage and may reduce your disposal costs.

If treated wood is in good condition, think about reusing it. Burning of treated wood is not permitted.

If you have to dispose of treated wood, contact us for further information at 902-637-2322, before you bring it to us. At this time, no final decision has been made but we may still accept treated wood for shipment to landfill. However, we may require you to separate out treated wood from other wood and C&D debris and/or pay an additional tipping fee. 

Emergency Management (EMO)

Created: Tuesday, 15 August 2023 16:45

Wildfires

Recovery Efforts

A Recovery and Care Centre has opened in the former VIC Buidling (2517, Highway 3) to support residents affected by the fires.The Centre provides a place where residents can speak with a community liaisons and connect with different community groups that offer support services, like the United Way and the Red Cross.

Residents who have returned to properties after being evacuated are encouraged to review provincial information on health and safety considerations, including guidance on the use of personal protective equipment.

Resources and Support

Resources for residents returning to properties

An information package has been prepared for those returning to properties.

A Recovery and Care Centre has opened in the former VIC Building (2517, Hohway 3) to support residents affected by the fires. See the Recovery Efforts section above for more information. 

The Province of Nova Scotia's Emergency Relief Grant is available to individuals. This grant will support Nova Scotians who lost income during the recent wildfires. Employed and self-employed Nova Scotians who are not receiving Employment Insurance (EI) can access this short-term emergency grant, either $275 or $550 per week, depending on the extent of the impact faced. Volunteer firefighters who responded to the wildfires may also be eligible.   

Details on the grant and eligibility can be found at: https://novascotia.ca/programs/emergency-relief-grant-individuals 

Nova Scotia Wildfires Housing Support Program

The Province of Nova Scotia, through the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency (NSPHA), has established this transitional housing program for Nova Scotians who lost or experienced significant damage to their homes in the wildfires in Spring of 2023.The Nova Scotia Wildfires Housing Support Program offers modular housing to eligible Nova Scotia residents for up to two years.

Residents returning to properties after an evacuation order are encouraged to review provincial information on health and safety considerations, including the use of personal protective equipment.

For more information, visit: https://nspha.ca/programs/nova-scotia-wildfires-housing-support-program

The Canadian Red Cross Guide to Wildfire Recovery is another valuable resource for residents returning home after an evacuation area.

The Nova Scotia Power Wildfires Response webpage provides information on outage restoration and electrical safety. A reference guide to important electrical safety steps: Nova Scotia Power Wildfires Response & Re-entry Factsheet.

The Province of Nova Scotia has valuable resources for mental health support available for children, youth and adults. 

A well water safety after a wildfire common questions document is important for those residents who have returned to their property and rely on well water. 

Supporting businesses impacted by the wildfires

In partnership with the Barrington Chamber of Commerce, the Western REN has been coordinating response and support for the Business Community impacted by the wildfires and evacuation orders in Shelburne County. 

Both the Barrington Chamber and Western REN staff have had direct outreach to those impacted for a preliminary check-in. The goal has been to understand immediate needs, share information on relief supports, and to hear first-hand any other concerns. They are planning to be onsite at the Barrington Chamber office for drop-ins from any impacted business owners next week, details to follow.

They are also working in parallel with the Halifax Partnership and are an active participant in their check-in meetings. They are ensuring efforts are coordinated at a provincial level, and we have a channel to relay information back and forth as quickly as possible.

The Province of Nova Scotia is offering assistance to more small businesses impacted by recent wildfires.

The Small Business Wildfire Relief Program is now available to businesses outside the mandatory evacuation zones that were closed for at least five days because of the fires. 

Applications and information on eligibility are at: https://beta.novascotia.ca/small-business-wildfire-relief-program

Business owners with questions may email:  

Nova Scotia's Thriving Forests

Nova Scotia’s Thriving Forests is supporting our province’s contribution to national efforts to tackle climate change, mitigate biodiversity loss and secure healthy forest ecosystems for future generations of Canadians.

Through funding provided by the Government of Canada’s 2 Billion Trees program, and the Province of Nova Scotia, Clean Foundation is working with the provincial government to develop tree planting initiatives across the province, with the goal of planting 21 million trees! This will happen by working with interested proponents to develop and fund planting projects, connecting them with service suppliers and supporting a local seed stock inventory.

Expression of Interest from project proponents and service providers are now open!

To learn more, visit: https://cleanfoundation.ca/thriving-forests/

Forever a Forest

The Southwest Nova Biosphere Region Association (SNBRA has pledged to plant ±250 000 trees by 2026 and are now looking to hear from any interested landowners in the 5 Southwest counties of Nova Scotia to help them extend this project so SNBRA can commit to planting almost 600 000 trees by 2031!

Their Forever a Forest project is primarily looking to restore degraded lands and habitats such as old or marginal farm fields, expand upon or reforest riparian areas, land that has lost (or losing) its tree cover due to natural disturbances such as fire, wind, or insect events, lands needing diversification/underplanting of areas like monocultures and old tree farms, and areas that would serve to bridge/improve habitat connectivity.

They will be planting Wabanaki (Acadian) forest species with a larger ratio of hardwoods to softwoods; this is not monoculture planting. Some of the species they would be planting are sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch, red oak, red spruce, white pine, white birch, white spruce, and black spruce. Other species may be included as they become available.

Their primary guiding objectives are:

 To plant the right tree in the right place.
 Plant a higher percentage of trees projected to do well under a warming climate.
 Plant trees that are known to grow quickly and store large amounts of carbon.
 Plant a biodiverse amount of species.

This project is of no cost to landowners. If you would like to learn more about this project, or see if your land qualifies for planting, please reach out to our Forever a Forest project lead .

After Action Review

Organizational learning requires that organizations continuously assess their performance to identify and learn from successes and failures. The After Action Review (AAR) is a simple but powerful tool to help Emergency Management Orgnizations (EMO) do this. Conducting an AAR at the end of an emergency event can help EMOs learn from its efforts. Furthermore, sharing the results from an AAR can help other EMOs learn from successful strategies and avoid pitfalls.

The Municipality of Barrington and Shelburne conducted a joint AAR and both participated in the provincial AAR.The municipal AAR can be viewed here .

The AAR will be centered on evaluating what was expected to happen, what actually occurred, what went well and why and what can be improved and how. A number of community and goverment partners and agencies will be asked to pareticipate in the AAR by providing their perspectives and experiences. A report summarizing the findings of the AAR will be published. It will help apply the lessons learned to future emergency events by providing a clear summary of concrete and actionable recommendations and identifying tasks and topics requiring leadership attention. 

Extreme Weather Preparation

If an emergency happens, it may take emergency workers some time to reach you. You should be prepared to take care of yourself and your family for a minimum of 72 hours.

Learn how quick and easy it is to become better prepared to face a range of emergencies – anytime, anywhere by using this guide to create your own emergency plan. Use the checklists to build a 72-hour emergency kit. These basic steps will help you take care of yourself and your loved ones during an emergency. 

There are also emergency preparedness guides available for persons with disabilities and older adults living in Nova Scotia. These guides can help you to be ready in case a disaster or an emergency happens here. Here they are:

There are also simple and inexpensive actions that can be taken to adapt to climate change and mitigate its impact on your safety and property. Here are five infographics outlining simple, easy to implement mitigation strategies to address the threat of extreme heat, flooding, and wildfires. 

  • Steps to Cost Effective Apartment Heat Protection
  • Steps to Cost Effective Home Heat Protection
  • Steps to a Cost Effective FireSmart Home
  • Wildfire Ready Community
  • Steps to Cost Effective Home Flood Protection

Wildfire-Ready

Here are two plain language, image-based infographics, designed to help with the implementation of practical actions tht can be taken to be wildfire ready:

Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program

In response to drought conditions experienced in our area in the fall of 2016, the Province amended the MGA to allow municipalities the power to lend money for new wells and cisterns.

We offer a Water Supply Upgrade Lending Program which allows residents to borrow money from the Municipality to construct a new dug or drilled well or upgrade an existing well that is required to source water. The maximum lending amount is $10,000 and it is repayable up to a maximum of 10 years at a 3% interest rate.

The by-law regulating the program can also be accessed here for more information: https://barringtonmunicipality.com/2721-by-law-no-37-water-supply-upgrade-lending-program/file.

Community Litter Clean-Up Program

Created: Tuesday, 12 July 2022 10:26

Our Community Litter Clean-Up Program offers an incentive to individuals and non-profit groups to clean litter from the ditches along the roads authorized by Nova Scotia Department of Public Works and the Municipality.

The incentive is $150 per kilometer for regular clean-up and $200 per kilometer for heavily littered and difficult areas to reach. Eligible areas are determined by the Community Litter Co-ordinator

This program is open from April-June and is offered under the framework provided in Policy 89 Community Litter Clean-Up Program Policy. A copy of the policy can be found here.

A maximum of 100 kilometers of the Municipality is cleaned per year which is distributed equally among districts, as much as possible.

If you are interested in participating in the program, complete this  pdf application form(158 KB) and contact our program coordinator, Megan Smith, at  or 902-903-0493.

Municipal Election Worker

Created: Friday, 28 August 2020 10:54

During a municipal election, the Municipality hires workers for a variety of positions. The next regular Municipal Election is scheduled for October 17, 2020 with in-person advance polls scheduled for October 10 and 13, 2020.

 We are currently looking for:  

  • Deputy Returning Officers
  • Poll Clerks
  • Polling Location Cleaner

Rates of Pay for Election Workers

If you are interested in working during the upcoming election, please contact our Returning Officer, Cathy Clark, at 902-320-3509 or .

Information for Candidates

Created: Saturday, 01 February 2020 18:39

The next regular election will be held October 19, 2024. Here you will find information on requirements, official forms and more. The Candidate’s Guide for the Regular Election is now available and can be requested through the Returning Officer.

The Requirements

To be a candidate in either a municipal or school board election, you must be: 

  • 18 years of age at the time of nomination;
  • a Canadian citizen;
  • ordinarily resident in the Municipality of Barrington for six months preceding nomination day, and continue to so reside.

You don’t need to live in the polling district that you’re running in, as long as you meet the residency requirement of six months in the municipality.

Key Dates

  Residency required to qualify as candidate in election
  Nomination Day (Nominations can be filed by appointment with the Returning Officer in the seven business days prior – August 27 - Sptember 4, 2020)
  Last day for candidate to withdraw
  First Advance Poll
  Second Advance Poll
  Election Day
  Official Addition
  Last day to file Affidavit re Removal of Advertising Materials and Return of Lists of Electors (Form 12) 
  Last day to apply for a recount
  Last day to file Campaign Contributions Disclosure Statement (Forms 40 and 41 )

The Paper Work

All candidates must either appoint an official agent or file a declaration that you’ll be acting as your own official agent. The official agent must keep track of any campaign contributions and open a separate bank account for this purpose. You should appoint your agent before you begin to accept any campaign contributions. Filing your agent forms will be made public and posted to the municipal website.

All candidates must fill out a nomination form and return it to the returning office before Nomination Day, or during an appointed time arranged with the Returning Officer. The Returning Officer may also be making appointments for in-person drop-offs of the nomination. Please call the Returning Officer to schedule an appointment if you wish to come during this time. Please note that social distancing rules are in place at the returning office and masks must be worn.

The form must be returned in person to the Returning Officer - it can not be mailed or emailed into the office. You only become an official candidate when you have filed your nomination paper in person with the Returning Officer. 

For more information contact  or call 902-637-2015.

Candidates Guide & Resources

If you’re thinking of running an election, you should start by reading the Candidate’s Guide to Municipal and School Board Elections. An updated version of the guide is now available and can be requested through the Returning Officer.

The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities has also launched a website with information for candidates interested in running in the October 2020 election. Check it out at https://www.nsfm.ca/election-2020-info.html.