Searching historical council minutes and annual reports, 1841-1996

Council minutes and annual reports are often the best starting place for historical research into municipal decisions, events, or laws. The Municipal Archives has digitized all pre-amalgamation (before 1996) council minutes. This incredible wealth of documentation of the decisions, events, developments, and actors - citizens and councillors - that have shaped our region can be searched and viewed on-line.

Start your search in one of these former municipalities; you will get more precise results by first searching in the indexes to the minutes:

• City of Halifax, 1841-1996
  • Indexes
  • Minutes
  • Annual Reports, 1865-1920
• Town/City of Dartmouth, 1873-1996
  • Indexes
  • Minutes
  • Annual Reports, 1887-1953
• County of Halifax, 1878-1996
  • Indexes
  • Minutes
• Town of Bedford, 1979-1996
  • Indexes
  • Minutes

Submissions to Council (reports, correspondence, petitions)

Before every meeting of Council the Clerk provided councillors and aldermen with documentation submitted by staff or others that was relevant to the agenda. These reports, petitions, correspondence, plans, etc., are often needed to fully understand the issue discussed, and are available through the Municipal Archives.

To request council reports:

1. Note the date of the meeting, and the agenda item.
2. Contact the Archives to request the report or submission; copies of specific submissions can be requested.

****See the Municipal Archives for other historical content.