Film permits in
Halifax

Application method

Email-based, not a portal. Complete the Municipal Film Application Form and the Release and Indemnification Form and email them to the Film Liaison with a certificate of insurance and proof of notification to Councillors and residents. The Liaison co-signs and returns it; that document is the filming approval and must be on site.

Minimum lead time

5 business days to process. Proof of insurance is also due 5 business days before filming starts.

Sub-lead times

Police extra duty 5 business days; Halifax Transit 10 business days; Fire Prevention pyrotechnics 10 business days; right-of-way permit 5 business days; municipal park booking 5 working days; municipal building lease about 5 days.

Application fee

No fee for the film application itself.

Published service fees

Road Occupancy Permit $250 plus $1,000 refundable security deposit. Parks: commercial $135.70/day, non-profit or low budget $67.85/day. Police (plus 3% admin): Constable $104.54/hr, Sergeant $124.40/hr, both 4-hour minimum; police car $75/day, motorcycle $50/day. Transit: bus $184.31/hr, ferry $525/hr with a 4-hour minimum. Fire costs 'will vary'.

What requires approval

All location filming in HRM, including student and amateur productions, which are held to the same requirements as production companies. Separate permits may be needed for closures, transit or emergency vehicles, aerial filming, pyrotechnics, tents over 10' x 10', and municipal parks or buildings.

What is exempt

Current affairs and news media filming on location are explicitly exempt from coordinating with the Film Liaison. Established multi-season series renew annually rather than re-applying each cycle.

Outside HRM

Screen Nova Scotia directs producers to the Halifax film office for anything inside HRM and to each town's own municipal office for anything outside it.

Applications may be subject to a risk assessment, after which HRM may require enhanced protocols, more municipal services, or higher insurance limits.

Who must be notified

Two audiences. Councillors for each district where filming occurs, contacted after the Liaison has authorised the activity. And residents. Notification is a mandatory attachment to the application, with copies of both sent to the Liaison.

Notice period for closures

Written notice to all affected businesses and residents at least 5 business days before a street or sidewalk closure, copied to the Film Liaison and Traffic Management.

What the notice must contain

Name and type of production; contact person and number; type of filming activity; duration with locations, times and dates; parking and traffic impact; light or noise impact; special effects such as gunfire, rain or fog effects, pyrotechnics; and Film Liaison contact information.

Written resident consent

Required 'in certain situations'. Filming involving loud noises, special effects including a gun replica, gunfire or explosions, generators or fans, or outdoor set construction in residential areas must be assessed by police and the Liaison, and in certain of those situations written resident consent is required. HRM does not publish which situations trigger it or what proportion of consent is needed.

Notification radius

not published

Notice period for general filming

not published

Lead time

5 business days for the right-of-way permit, with resident and business notice also due 5 business days ahead.

Cost

The film fee table lists Road Occupancy at $250 plus a $1,000 refundable deposit. HRM's general Streets and Services page states $200.00 plus a $1,000 performance security deposit returned on passed inspection. See open questions.

Construction Management Plan

Required with every right-of-way application, formerly the Traffic Control Plan and Pedestrian Management Plan. It must show how pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles are each accommodated past the work area.

Portal and contractor prerequisites

Closures run through HRM's online Planning, Licensing & Compliance portal, not the Film Liaison. An HRM-approved contractor must be listed before submission, and contractor approval requires a certificate naming HRM as additional insured with minimum $2,000,000 general commercial liability. Full payment is due at submission.

When a closure is granted

A permit is needed particularly where closures or intermittent stoppages are required. Applicants select partial, full or sidewalk-only based on impact; a full closure includes a signed detour route. All filming must comply with the Motor Vehicle Act and the Temporary Workplace Traffic Control Manual.

Municipal staff validate contractor profiles only after receiving the production's insurance, so allow time before the permit clock starts.

Permit required

Production vehicles on municipal streets are covered by the right-of-way permit, crew must produce it on request, and each vehicle must display a windshield sign with the film name, location manager and contact number. Crew cars are generally excluded and must observe posted signage.

Cost

on request

Advance posting of no-parking signage

not published

Waste collection usually starts by 07:00 and trucks must be allowed access; if collection cannot happen the production must move residents' carts and return them afterwards.

When police are required

Extra Duty Officers may be necessary where disruption to pedestrian or street traffic is expected. Book 5 business days ahead, cancel one day ahead. Use of a police car or motorcycle on camera must be authorised by the Chief of Police. Police must be informed of firearms or pyrotechnics.

Police rates

Constable $104.54/hr and Sergeant $124.40/hr, both with a 4-hour minimum, plus a 3% administration fee. Police car $75/day, motorcycle $50/day.

How extra duty is billed

HRP administers the programme on a cost-recovery basis; officers work the detail as paid overtime and the hiring organisation pays, not HRP.

When fire attendance is required

For pyrotechnics, the SFX person contacts Fire Prevention 10 business days ahead for a permit. A permit is required for any tent over 10' by 10'. Fire Prevention must inspect buildings where fire control systems are suppressed and may require Fire Watch personnel.

Fire rates

on request

Residential filming hours

07:00 to 23:00. Production vehicles must not arrive at or leave a residential location after 23:00, must turn off engines on arrival, and set-up and tear-down must not run past 23:00. Night filming is permitted in non-residential areas provided police and the Liaison are notified.

Park and alternate site hours

Tighter: 07:00–21:30 weekdays, 08:00–19:00 Saturdays, 09:00–19:00 Sundays. Shooting beyond those hours needs special permission and the production pays any security overtime.

Noise bylaw standard

By-law N-200 sets no decibel limit. It is a nuisance standard in force 24 hours a day. Schedule A deems specific activities disturbing at set times in residential areas: fireworks, explosive devices and firearm discharge are prohibited at all times; idling over five continuous minutes is prohibited at all times; yelling, loading or unloading, and public address systems audible beyond the property are prohibited before 07:00 and after 21:30 Mon–Fri, before 08:00 and after 19:00 Saturday, and before 09:00 and after 19:00 Sunday and holidays.

Noise exemption process

About 8 weeks from application to public hearing. A dated letter is emailed to By-law Support stating dates and times, the event, the activities requiring exemption including load-in and load-out, a contact, waste handling, and alcohol, tent and security arrangements. Staff report to Halifax Regional Council and the applicant must attend the hearing. Council may grant, refuse, or grant a lesser exemption for up to six months.

The exemption route is designed around events, not shoot days. Eight weeks is longer than most schedules, so in practice HRM handles noisy filming through the Liaison plus police assessment and, where needed, written resident consent.

Municipal rule

Real and specific. By-law P-600 s.8A: no person shall operate an unmanned air vehicle or model aircraft from within the boundaries of a park, except by application to the Director on a prescribed form.

What the Liaison requires

Drone operator licence, drone registration and approved flight paths must be submitted to the Film Liaison. Take-off and landing locations may require further municipal approval. Aerial filming is a tick-box on the application and is treated as medium risk for insurance at $5,000,000.

Restricted airspace

not published

Controlling authority

Municipal parks, outdoor sport sites and special event sites are HRM Parks & Recreation through the Facility Scheduling Office. Some sites have dedicated forms, including Point Pleasant Park, Grand Parade and the Emera Oval. Municipal buildings and parking lots go through Real Property Services. Park use is governed by By-law P-600.

Additional lead time

Minimum 5 working days before use of any municipal park. The $2,000,000 special event liability certificate is due to Scheduling two weeks before the date. Consumer fireworks at HRM parks require a minimum of 2 weeks' notice.

Current park filming rates

$144.01/day commercial and $72.00/day non-profit or low budget on the Parks booking page. Higher than the 2023 Film Guidelines table. See open questions.

Park use conditions

Minimum $2,000,000 special event liability; vehicles on site only for loading and unloading; portable washrooms are the organiser's responsibility where none exist; most facilities have no electricity; tents need staff permission; fireworks need Fire Services approval. The application is a request only until a contract is signed.

Off-limits locations

not published

Minimum general liability

Tiered by risk: $2,000,000 for student and low-risk productions; $5,000,000 for medium risk including aerial filming, car chases and pyrotechnics; $10,000,000 for high risk including large pyrotechnic displays or explosions. Canadian funds, certificates in English, due 5 business days before filming.

Additional insured

'Halifax Regional Municipality' written out in full, explicitly not the abbreviation 'HRM', with a Cross Liability clause and the municipality's official mailing address on the certificate.

Environmental impairment

An Environmental Impairment Liability policy of not less than $2,000,000 is required for any filming involving hazardous materials or other contaminants.

Release and indemnification

A mandatory attachment. The production indemnifies HRM, its Mayor, Councillors, officers, employees, agents and volunteers, save for HRM's own negligence, and must carry Workers' Compensation and accident insurance covering paid and unpaid participants. In exchange HRM acknowledges the production owns its recordings, and the production agrees not to use HRM's name or trademarks without prior written approval.

Watercraft coverage

not published