Study Area defined in the Agreement to Conduct a Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Nova Scotia. The study area was created by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada and the province of Nova Scotia.

This geospatial data depicts potential development areas (PDAs) recommended by the Committee for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Nova Scotia.The Committee for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Nova Scotia (Committee) provides federal and provincial Ministers with information, knowledge, and analysis regarding future offshore wind (OSW) development in Nova Scotia. Its work is intended to inform and improve future planning, licencing, permitting, and impact assessment processes.Under the Terms of Reference, the Committee submitted an interim report to Ministers on March 23, 2024. This report included the preliminary identification of recommended areas for potential future development areas (PFDAs) for offshore wind. Based on work completed since the interim report, the Committee issued its final report on January 23, 2025, which included refined development areas, the Potential Development Areas (PDAs). These PDAs are based on technical feasibility (using available information) and have the least impact on other offshore users. It should be noted that the PDAs are recommendations only and do not reflect official offshore wind energy areas.

The dataset contains the digital boundaries for significant discovery licences, production licences, drilled wells, major pipelines and the jurisdictional boundary of the area administered by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (CNSOER), as well as the inactive Georges Bank permits formerly administered by the Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration (COGLA). All production facilities have been removed and active projects were fully abandoned and decommissioned by November 2020. As of January 2022 there are no active exploration licences.A significant discovery licence (SDL) may be issued for lands within a declared significant discovery area under the Accord Acts. The term of a significant discovery licence is indefinite and was designed to maintain an explorer's rights during the period between first discovery and eventual production. Significant discovery licence interest representatives in 2021 include BP Canada Energy Company, ExxonMobil Canada Ltd., ExxonMobil Canada Properties, Ovintiv Canada ULC, and Shell Canada Limited. Most of the SDLs predate the CNSOEB; they were issued at various times from 1980 to 1986 by COGLA before the Offshore Board existed. On January 5, 1990, they were all rolled into CNSOEB’s governance. The only exception is SDL 2702 which was issued June 6, 2007.A production licence (PL) gives interest holders the right to produce petroleum in an area which is subject to a declared commercial discovery. In order to be declared a commercial discovery, an operator must demonstrate that the discovery contains reserves that will justify the investment of capital and effort to bring the discovery to production. A production licence has a term of 25 years but may be extended if commercial production is continuing or is likely to recommence.Production licence interest representatives in 2021 include ExxonMobil Canada Ltd. and Ovintiv Canada ULC. The PLs were effective on the following dates:• 2901, 2902: 1991-04-01• 2903, 2904, 2905, 2906: 1999-07-06• 2907: 2003-10-31• 2908: 2004-11-25• 2909, 2910, 2911: 2010-12-31 Inactive Georges Bank permit interest representatives include BP Canada Energy Company and Chevron Canada Ltd.Each production licence, significant discovery licence and inactive Georges Bank permit polygon is a mapped representation of the permit interest abstract. The offshore area is divided into grid areas and permit interest abstracts are defined by this land division. The land division system consists of grid areas, sections, and units – all referenced to the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD27). For more information on the Canada lands defined areas (Land Division), See: Canada oil and gas regulations land division (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.%2C_c._1518/page-1.html#h-525569 or https://www.cnsopb.ns.ca/resource-library/land-division-guideline).The area of a PL or SDL can be found in the permit interest abstract for that licence, available for download on the CNSOER's website (https://www.cnsopb.ns.ca/sites/default/files/resource/interest_summary_table.pdf) . The directory of wells point dataset contains the surface locations for all wells drilled in Offshore Nova Scotia. The file includes well names, locations, spud dates, termination dates, rig table elevations, water depths, well total depth, well type (exploratory, delineation, production, or injector), well result, and current status. Original data for wells drilled prior to 1990 was collected and maintained by the Geological Survey of Canada and COGLA. Data are also available on the Basin database online (https://basin.gdr.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php). CNSOER’s directory of wells was last updated January, 2020.Jurisdictional boundary point and lines datasets define the outer limit of the jurisdiction of the CNSOER, as described in the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act - Schedule 1 (Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation Act (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-7.8/page-1.html)), excluding the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) limit as described under Part VI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf?msclkid=5309c2b9cfc911ecb5bb107f67772ec1). The offshore gas pipeline polyline dataset contains locations of major pipelines in the CNSOER's jurisdictional area, associated with petroleum production in offshore Nova Scotia. This file is considered to be approximate and is not an official record. Some pipeline coordinates are sourced from CAD documents (DXF), supplied by operators. Some were created using ArcMap, digitized from paper records. As of October 2021, all pipelines within this file have been fully flushed with sea water and abandoned.All shapefiles were transformed into the NAD83 datum using the NTv2 transformation.

This geospatial data depicts the Draft Offshore Wind Licencing Areas (Draft Areas) recommended by the Committee for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador (Committee).*Based on work completed to date, the Committee has found the Draft Areas are where offshore wind development would have the least impact within the Regional Assessment Focus Area. Identifying Areas:Section 6 of the Draft Regional Assessment Report (see Data Resources below) includes details on how the Draft Areas were identified. They are the result of the constraints analysis summarized below, with very little modification to area boundaries. The Committee successively removed areas from the Regional Assessment Focus Area (published on Open Government by the Impact Assessment Agency on December 1, 2023). Constraints analysis steps included: • Step 1: Creating Coastal Buffers.• Step 2: Removing Marine Critical Habitat.• Step 3: Removing Marine Protected Areas. • Step 4: Removing Marine Traffic Routes.• Step 5: Removing Areas with High Vessel Traffic.• Step 6: Removing the South Coast Fjords NMCA Study Area.• Step 7: Removing Areas around National Parks & World Heritage Sites.• Step 8: Removing High Density Fishing Areas.• Step 9: Removing Community-based Coastal Resources.An Iterative Process:Identifying offshore wind licencing areas is an iterative process. On March 22, 2024, the Committee submitted its Interim Report to Ministers. This report included a preliminary map of recommended areas for offshore wind development licencing. The preliminary areas were updated based on engagement outcomes, additional data and analysis submitted to the Committee by Regional Assessment participants, and additional research and analysis completed by the Committee between March and October 2024. On October 1, 2024, the Committee’s Draft Report, including updated offshore wind areas, was published for a public comment period. The Draft Areas supersede the Preliminary Offshore Wind Licencing Areas. The Draft Areas are also subject to change. The Committee will submit its Final Report and Initial Offshore Wind Licencing Areas for Consideration to Ministers on or before January 23, 2025. The Committee recommends that regulators consider the forthcoming Initial Offshore Wind Energy Licencing Areas, and the Committee’s report to Ministers, to help inform offshore wind development licencing areas in the region.Latest Update:The Committee’s Final Report and final version of Initial Offshore Wind Energy Licencing Areas for Consideration were submitted to Ministers on January 23, 2025. This completes the Committee’s mandate. Ministers may also choose to make the final versions of these areas available following the Regional Assessment. However, no changes have been made to the geospatial data representing the Draft Areas (published here).Please note the Committee updated the term “Initial Offshore Wind Energy Licencing Areas for Consideration” in the final iteration of their work to better communicate the areas it identified are not licencing areas but are a starting point to help inform the selection of licencing areas. Previous iterations of these areas were called Preliminary Offshore Wind Licencing Areas and Draft Offshore Wind Licencing Areas.*Regional Assessment Background: The federal Ministers of Environment and of Natural Resources, and the provincial Ministers of Industry, Energy and Technology, of Environment and Climate Change, and of Intergovernmental Affairs (Ministers) are signatory to the Regional Assessment Agreement. The goal of the Regional Assessment is to provide information to federal and provincial governments to help them plan for offshore wind development in Newfoundland and Labrador, and complete impact assessments of offshore wind projects. Federal and provincial Ministers appointed an independent committee, comprising five members of diverse backgrounds and expertise to conduct the assessment.

This dataset represents the Environmental and Socio-economic Assessments (ESA) submitted to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER). The CER has made this and other ESAs available through an online search tool called BERDI (Biophysical Socio-Economic Regional Data and Information). Data extraction methodology is available on the BERDI website. Pipelines represented in this layer include a start and end point.

Depicts priority area for work under the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Committee for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador (Committee) is responsible for providing information, knowledge and analysis regarding future offshore wind development (OSW) to inform and improve future planning, licencing and impact assessment processes. The Committee’s mandate is set out in the Agreement to Conduct the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador (Agreement), and includes assessing potential environmental, health, social and economic effects of future OSW. The Agreement includes a broad Study Area. In November 2023, the Committee determined OSW interest in the foreseeable future is more likely within a portion of the Study Area set out in the Agreement. The Committee defined this portion of the Study Area as the assessment's Focus Area. The Committee continues to conduct the Regional Assessment (i.e., present information on existing conditions and consider potential impacts of OSW) within the Focus Area. The Committee's decision to define the Focus Area and supporting rationale is available here: https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/153431 The Agreement to conduct the Regional Assessment is available here: https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents/p84343/147037E.pdf

The Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF) Regions are legally described in Part I and Part II of the Schedule in the Environmental Studies Research Fund Regions Regulations in the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. This data collection is for illustrative purposes only and includes:• 1 dataset illustrating ESRF prescribed regions 1 to 31 as they are described in the ESRF Regions Regulations.• 1 dataset illustrating the areas where levies are no longer applied to ESRF prescribed regions. These areas include lands that are described in the ESRF Regions Regulations but have since been devolved to the Government of Yukon or the Government of Northwest Territories as part of the 2003 Yukon Devolution and 2014 Northwest Territories Devolution, respectively. Once the Yukon Act and Northwest Territories Act came into effect, lands subject to devolution were no longer considered frontier lands or Canada lands, and therefore no longer subject to ESRF levies under the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The geospatial extents used in this dataset represent those identified in the Devolution Agreements. Future updates to Part II, section 3 of the Schedule in the ESRF Regions Regulations will reflect the Yukon and Northwest Territories Devolutions.• 3 maps (National, North, South).• 1 table compiling the historical levies for each ESRF prescribed region.Context:The Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF) is a research program which sponsors environmental and social studies designed to assist in the decision-making process related to oil and gas exploration and development on Canada's frontier lands. The ESRF is directed by a 12-member Management Board which includes representation from the federal government, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB), the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator (CNSOER), the oil and gas industry, and the public. The ESRF is administered by a secretariat which resides in the Offshore Management Division in Natural Resources Canada.Since 1987, the ESRF has received its legislative mandate through the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The ESRF regions are described in the Environmental Studies Research Fund Regions Regulations. As well, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act and the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation and Offshore Renewable Energy Management Act provide legislative direction in the southern ESRF regions.Funding for ESRF is collected annually through levies paid by lease-holding oil and gas companies active in a specific ESRF region. In accordance with the legislation, levies are recommended by the Management Board to the Ministers of Natural Resources and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs for approval. Levies in the southern regions in areas governed by an offshore Accord are subject to final approval by the respective offshore regulator (i.e., the C-NLOPB, or the CNSOER). Levies are calculated by multiplying the levy rate of a region by the number of hectares of land under lease.The ESRF has sponsored studies on biodiversity; environmental effects and monitoring; social and economic issues; ice, icebergs, and ice detection; oil spill research and countermeasures; sea bottom ice scour; sediment transport; Indigenous Knowledge; and waves.

Study Area defined in the Agreement to Conduct a Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind Development in Newfoundland and Labrador. The study area was created by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada in collaboration with Natural Resources Canada and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The NSCAF Community Boundaries dataset includes the boundary for each Nova Scotia civic community. These boundaries were defined in consultation with Nova Scotia municipalities with input from municipal councilors, Emergency Health Services (Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness), local fire and police departments, among others.

Gaelic placenames in Nova Scotia contain placenames Nova Scotia Gaels have for communities in Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough, Inverness, Victoria, Richmond and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality