The Halifax Chamber story
The Halifax Chamber of Commerce has a long and proud history as one of North America’s oldest business organizations. For generations, we’ve served as the voice of the local business community in Halifax, but what did that look like hundreds of years ago? What were the issues that shaped our early advocacy and how did the business leaders of the past lay the groundwork for the thriving community we see today?
Halifax’s early economy: Good times, bad times
Following the American Revolution (1765-1783), Halifax’s merchants were working to transform the city into a commercial hub, leading to the formation of the Halifax Committee of Trade, Canada’s first. Many were Loyalist refugees who arrived after the American Revolution, bringing with them trade connections and ambitious ideas. Despite Halifax’s geographic challenges (no major rivers connecting to interior markets), merchants positioned the city as a key gateway to the Atlantic.
During wartime, the Napoleonic wars and the war of 1812, these merchants prospered and believed that their economic gains could be sustained in peacetime through strong protectionist policies and imperial support.
However, after the wars, optimism quickly faded. The Treaty of Ghent (1815) followed by British agreements with France and the U.S. (including the 1818 Anglo-American convention) weakened Halifax’s position.
These setbacks overlapped with a severe postwar recession in Halifax marked by falling exports and prices, unemployment, credit shortages, and crop failures. As economic conditions worsened, some residents emigrated to the U.S. and calls even rose for Nova Scotia’s annexation to America.
Halifax Chamber of Commerce: Early advocacy
A core of the Halifax entrepreneurs persisted however and in 1822, when conditions were at their worst, reformed the original Halifax Council of Trade into the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, a new merchant organization intended to advocate for measures designed to stimulate economic recovery.
Halifax’s entrepreneurs through the Chamber of Commerce pressed for policies to enhance their competitive positions. Although the ideas were not new, their demands in the early 1820s were more comprehensive than ever before.
In the early 1820s, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce intensified its efforts to confront American commercial dominance while successfully advocating for:
• International trade opportunities: particularly the right to trade directly with foreign Europe.
• Expanded import access: which improved trade efficiency and competitiveness by supporting the fisheries and ensuring fully loaded, profitable voyages.
• Establishment of imperial bonded warehouses: which allowed foreign goods to be stored duty-free, improving flexibility and efficiency in trade.
Additionally, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce actively advocated both colonial and imperial authorities to support economic development and infrastructure improvements. Their advocacy efforts included:
• Simplifying customs regulations: to ease transshipment of goods through Halifax to other parts of British America.
• Petitioning for financial assistance: to build the Shubenacadie Canal, connecting Halifax with the Bay of Fundy.
• Pushing for limited-liability bank in Halifax: aimed at retaining investment capital and expanding access to commercial credit.
Chamber success: Post-war growth
The reforms of 1825, which included many of positions mentioned above, did have a positive impact on Halifax trade, leading to a growth in trade with foreign Europe and South America. One local editor declared that ‘Halifax had been on the eve of destruction. This has come just in time to save it from ruin’.
Afte a decade of postwar commercial stagnation, the port had finally begun to be drawn into a general economic boom in Britain and America. “By the late 1820s the bustle on the Halifax waterfront was such as to inspire a mood of expansionist optimism among local merchants” (Sutherland, 1978).
Today’s Chamber: Modern advocacy
200 years later, the Halifax Chamber of Commerce continues to advocate on very similar issues like reducing red tape, improving infrastructure to support the efficient movements of goods, improving access to financing and capital, and enhancing trade opportunities. Although the global landscape of business and government has changed, the Chamber’s core mission remains focused on promoting a competitive and resilient economy through strong advocacy.
