**** HRM Media Release
Municipality updates Open Data website and adds new datasets
The Halifax Regional Municipality has launched an improved and revised Open Data website – the Halifax Data, Mapping & Analytics Hub. This centralized resource improves user experience and continues the municipality’s commitment to provide public access to data and visualizations of its uses.
This website will host the following content:
- Open Data – As part of the municipality’s commitment to improving citizen engagement and enhancing transparency and accountability to its residents, the municipality continue to provide public access to key data. Open Data is a permanent service provided to citizens and businesses access to data for download, while still respecting privacy and sensitivity concerns.
- Mapping Applications – The municipality offers a variety of ways to discover geographic data. Residents can explore interactive maps with an option to download pre-made, printable PDF maps.
- Analytics – This new tool provides solutions that analyze data, visualize trends and patterns to inform decisions that affect the municipality. The goal is to help municipal staff better understand past developments, predict future events, and identify possible opportunities to provide enhanced service delivery and management of resources.
In addition, the municipality has released six new datasets, as part of an ongoing commitment to provide public access to data created and managed by the municipality. The newly released datasets are:
- Census 2021 Population Age Ranges
- Census 2021 Population Ages
- Census 2021 Population Marital Status Ages
- Census 2021 Population Marital Status Sex
- Traffic Calming Assessments
- Tax Rates
There was a need to make some modifications to existing tax data. The current municipal Tax Rates has been archived and renamed to Tax Rates 2021 and a new dataset created for Tax Rates for tax year 2022 going forward.
The following tax area rate boundaries have been modified to include a new area rate code that is associated to the new Tax Rates dataset:
- BID Area Rates
- Community Facilities and Services Area Rates
- Fire Protection Area Rates
- Private Road Area Rates
- Transit Area Rates
- Transportation Area Rates
- Tax Designation
This brings the total number of available datasets to 207.
A wide range of data can be sourced for free through the catalogue, such as transit routes and schedule data, solid waste collection schedules, and area rates. New data releases occur several times throughout the year, with the most recent release on February 15, 2023.
The Open Data initiative was launched in early 2014 to help improve resident engagement and enhance transparency on municipal data. The program was formalized by Regional Council later that year through the adoption of Administrative Order 2014-006-ADM Respecting Open Data.
For more information on the municipality’s Open Data program, and to access all the data sets, visit: Open Data Catalogue.
