Accessibility Tools

Welcome to St. Mary’s

Located in the heart of Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s is a rural municipality consisting of five electoral districts. Incorporated in 1879, the Municipality has a population of 2,233 and is bounded by the counties of Antigonish and Pictou, the municipalities of Halifax and Guysborough, and the Atlantic Ocean.

NOTICE

MEETING:                  St Mary’s Municipal Council

                                    Committee of the Whole

DATE:                         Wednesday, September 3rd, 2025

TIME:                          6:00 pm

PLACE:                        St. Mary’s Municipality

                                    Council Chambers, Sherbrooke, NS

  1. Call to Order
  1. Roll Call
  1. Additions to the Agenda
  1. Approval of the Agenda
  1. Approval of Minutes of the Committee of the Whole held July 16th, 2025
  1. Business Arising from Minutes
    a. Flag Policy
  1. Presentation: Access Wellness Program – Rob Wolf, Nova Scotia Health & Wellness
  1. Correspondence:
    a. 2024-2025 Annual Report - Property Valuation Services Corporation
    b. Code of Conduct Training – Paul LaFleche, Deputy Minister Dept. of Municipal Affairs
    c. Community Impact Report – Eastern Counties Regional Library
    d. Provincial Heritage Property – Dept. of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage
    e. Value for Money Audit of NS Firefighters School – Hon. John Lohr, Minister of Dept. of Municipal Affairs
    f. Thank You Email – Dr. Ackermann & Dr. McLean – Doctor Recruitment
    g. Thank You Card – Ava Anderson – Financial Award Scholarship
  1. Other Matters of Business
    a. Staff Report - Provincial Volunteer Awards Ceremony
    b. Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities - Fall Conference – Attendance
    c. Department of Public Works – J Class Road Submissions
    d. Staff Report – Recplex Flooring
    e. Staff Report – ZZAP Housing Policy Recommendations
  1. In- Camera: Contract Negotiations

Adjournment

The September 2025 Newsletter edition is now availabke to view, please click the link below: 
pdf 09 September 2025 Municipal Newsletter(4.25 MB)

Residents should receive there September 2025 newsletter by mail early next week. 

Hurricane Erin is not expected to bring much rain, but dangerous surf and rip currents are expected along the coast Friday.
People are advised to stay away from the shore as large waves will make conditions hazardous.
https://beta.novascotia.ca/government/emergency-management

 

The Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s would like to inform residents that our supply of potable water for distribution is currently running low. We are expecting a new shipment to arrive by tomorrow, Friday, August 22, 2025. This service is for residents within the Municipality that are on a well. To avoid unnecessary travel or disappointment, please call the Municipal Office at 902-522-2049 before coming to pick up water, to ensure availability.
We appreciate the community’s cooperation and understanding as we work to maintain access to safe drinking water.

The Department of Emergency Management has shared the following documents to help residents understand how they can monitor the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), and information on wild fire smoke for outdoor Recreation, Events, and Sports.

Please click the links below for the information. 
pdf 2025 08 21 AQHI and PurpleAir Monitoring Guide(183 KB)
pdf 2025 08 21 Outdoor Events and Sports Wildfire Smoke Key Messages(126 KB)

Response to the article appearing in the Guysborough Journal on August 20, 2025

I read with interest the recent article on water distribution and how different municipalities within Guysborough Country were facilitating the program. While I can agree that each area is handling the situation differently, I am a bit disappointed in the unspoken conclusion that St. Mary’s was being too rigid or inflexible in the distribution of this aid.

It was, and is, a provincial requirement that all distributed water must be tracked and accounted for. This is true in both methods of distribution either by voucher or in person.

However, in the time period between the interview made by media staff and the publication of the newspaper, meetings were held between both municipalities and provincial EMO to clarify on what constitutes evidence of need and methods of accounting for distribution. The initial guidelines provided by EMO staff could have been interpreted as overbearing in some cases, but since then the standards have been adjusted. No one needs to lift a well lid or take photos as first suggested. However, due to tracking standards set by EMO, we do need to keep count of how much water is distributed and to whom. Your word that the well is dry is enough.

This is a new and evolving program and as with any new process, when details need to be worked out on the fly there can be some confusion. Were mistakes made? Maybe. Are we trying hard to adjust and make this resource available? Absolutely. Were these changes made as a result of news media reporting? Absolutely not. In fact, yesterday a pallet and a half of water was distributed with no complications, a day before news publication.

St. Mary’s remains committed to the health and safety of all our residents and will continue to do so in the future.

James Fuller, Warden
Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s

Business Help Desk

Submit your business help desk inquiry.

Newsletter

Keep up to date on Municipal news and events. Contact us if you have an item to submit to the municipal newsletter.

Recreation

Get active in St. Mary’s! Our Recreation Department offers a variety of programs and events around the Municipality.

Waste Disposal

Find information on recycling, waste collection and the Municipal Transfer Station.

Taxes

Access everything you need to know about your tax bill.

Go to top