Paid on-street parking on Saturdays launching in downtown Halifax, Dartmouth next month

The Scotiabank Centre is seen downtown Halifax on Sept. 25, 2024. (Jesse Thomas/CTV Atlantic)

Saturday driving will get more expensive next month as the Halifax Regional Municipality will introduce paid on-street parking in its two downtown cores.

The municipality is launching paid parking on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in downtown Halifax and downtown Dartmouth on July 18. The first hour of parking will be free and each additional hour will be $2.

Drivers can pay for parking spots at pay stations or through the HotSpot app.

Halifax council unanimously voted to implement paid on-street parking on Saturdays during budget deliberations last March. A staff report noted the weekend parking demand is consistently high in the downtown areas.

“This approach supports short-duration visits while managing longer-stay parking demand and improving turnover in high-use areas,” the report read.

“According to recent research out of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, the typical urban on-street parking space has annualized land, construction and operating costs that total $630 to $2,600. Offering parking for free or at a highly subsidized rate incentivizes car culture and provides a benefit to the individual user as opposed to the broader community.”

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page