What's open and closed for Heritage Day 2023 in Halifax area

The provincial holiday honours Mi'kmaw poet Rita Joe for 2023.

This year's Heritage Day honours Elder Rita Joe of the We’koqma’q Mi’kmaw community

CBC News · Posted: Feb 20, 2023 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: February 20, 2023

closed sign — Many businesses will be closed for the provincial holiday on Monday, Feb, 20. (Roman Sigaev/Shutterstock)

Many businesses and services will be closed on Monday for Heritage Day in Nova Scotia. Here's a list of what's open and what's not across the Halifax region.

Groceries

Sobeys, Atlantic Superstore, Costco and Walmart are closed. Gateway Meat Market in Dartmouth will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Beer, wine and liquor

NSLC: Closed, but agency stores may be open.

Garrison Brewing: The downtown Halifax location will be open from noon to 7 p.m., while the Quinpool Road location will be open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Propeller Brewing: The Halifax and Dartmouth locations will be open from noon to 8 p.m.

Nine Locks Brewing: Open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Moosehead Cold Beer Store: Open from 10 a.m. to midnight.

Private liquor stores Bishop's Cellar (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.), WestSide Beer, Wine and Spirits (noon to 8 p.m.), RockHead (noon to 8 p.m.) and Harvest Wines and Spirits (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) are all open.

Malls

The Halifax Shopping Centre, Mic Mac Mall, Sunnyside Mall, Bedford Place Mall, Scotia Square and Park Lane Mall are all closed, although the movie theatre at Park Lane will be open.

Halifax Public Libraries

All library branches are closed.

Transit

Halifax Transit's buses and ferries will be operating on holiday service.

Waste collection

There will be no waste collection on Monday.

Recreation

Several city recreation facilities will be closed, so residents should call ahead to find out whether they're open. The Halifax skating oval will be closed to public skating.

Federal services

The designation of the third Monday in February as a statutory holiday is by provincial legislation and doesn't cover federal government employees, nor federally regulated industries such as telephone companies, railways and airlines.

That means many federal services will be offered on Monday.

Service Canada offices will be open. Canada Post outlets will be open regular hours and there will be mail delivery.

Rita Joe, Mi'kmaq poet from Cape Breton. — Rita Joe, a Mi'kmaq poet from Cape Breton, is being honoured by the Nova Scotia government as part of this year's Heritage Day. (Submitted by George Paul)

Rita Joe honoured

This year's Heritage Day in Nova Scotia pays tribute to Rita Joe, a Mi'kmaw poet who is being remembered for her writings that shone a spotlight on the lasting damage created by Canada's residential school system.

The late Cape Breton woman was born in Whycocomagh, N.S., in 1932, and later moved to Eskasoni First Nation.

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