Halifax Regional Municipality receives Esri Special Achievement in GIS Award
Strategic use of location intelligence enables better services throughout Atlantic Canada’s largest municipality
SAN DIEGO, Calif., Esri User Conference—July 15, 2025—Esri Canada congratulates the Halifax Regional Municipality for being recognized with the Esri Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award. The municipality was selected from thousands of Esri customer organizations worldwide for their exceptional use of geographic information system (GIS) technology to advance their operations and improve services across the municipality.
“The Halifax Regional Municipality’s commitment to improving municipal services and enhancing the quality of life for their residents using GIS is truly remarkable,” said Alex Miller, president, Esri Canada. “Their leadership in advancing GIS serves as a model for other municipalities across Canada. In fact, the municipality ranks first in the Geospatial Maturity Index Report, ahead of 96 other public sector organizations in North America."
“Our use of GIS at the municipality has evolved from the traditional land management to enhancing services such as planning, housing and development, wildfire and disaster response, climate change and traffic management,” noted Paul Shaffelburg, director, data analytics and visualization for the municipality. “GIS is part of the solution to every challenge we’re facing. We’re pleased that our concerted effort in applying technology strategically is delivering better outcomes for our community.”
The Halifax Regional Municipality, the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada, has used GIS technology for over 35 years. In 2017, the municipality completed a geospatial strategy that identified the opportunity to further leverage location intelligence to inform decisions, manage assets, engage constituents and drive innovation across various business units.
The municipality updated their geospatial strategy in 2022 and has significantly improved governance and transformed processes across their organization in areas including asset and infrastructure management, planning, IT, public works, emergency services, finance, parks and recreation, environment, transit and municipal council.
Some of the recent notable advancements in GIS at the municipality include:
- Implementation of location referencing for roads and highways
- Improved capital planning
- Enhanced data collaboration with external stakeholders on projects
- Formalization and automation of civic addressing workflows using ArcGIS Pro tasks
- Measurement of response times for Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency (HRFE) using ArcGIS GeoEvent Server
- Migration of the Situational Awareness tool to ArcGIS Experience Builder for fire and emergency services
- Utilization of ArcGIS Survey123 for fire building inspections
- Enhanced public access to the municipality’s open data, mapping applications and analytic dashboards through ArcGIS Hub
Visit the Halifax Data, Mapping & Analytics Hub
See municipal representation at the Esri Canada User Conference in Toronto on November 3-4, 2025. Register today
About Halifax Regional Municipality
The Halifax Regional Municipality is the government for the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada, delivering programs and services to more than 502,000 residents across 200 communities and neighbourhoods. Located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and traditional lands of the Mi’kmaq people, the Halifax region boasts the friendliness of a small town with the amenities, culture and opportunities of a modern urban centre. Halifax Regional Council, which is comprised of a Mayor and 16 Councillors, is the governing body for the municipality - providing direction to the Chief Administrative Officer who oversees approximately 5,000 employees in delivering key services to Halifax residents. As home to some of the brightest minds and best educational institutions in the world, Halifax is forward thinking, resilient and resourceful, with a reputation as an energetic, caring community that embraces creativity and innovation. For more information, visit halifax.ca.
About Esri Canada
Founded in 1984, Esri Canada provides geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower people in business, government, and education to make informed and timely decisions by leveraging the power of mapping and spatial analytics. These solutions enable organizations to better manage their resources, plan their future and collaborate within and beyond their organization. Esri Canada’s products and services help advance successful digital transformation. The company serves more than 14,000 organizations from 13 offices across Canada and is based in Toronto. Esri Canada has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for 13 consecutive years. More information can be found at esri.ca. Follow Esri Canada on X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Halifax Regional Municipality
Public Affairs Office
Corporate Communications
T. 902-490-5940
Esri Canada
press@esri.ca