Canada and Nova Scotia have taken a concrete step toward the country’s first offshore wind project, issuing Strategic Direction to the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator to start a prequalification process and a Call for Information that will shape an upcoming Call for Bids.
The move positions developers and investors to begin organizing teams, scrutinizing sites, and preparing for lease competition in the province’s waters.
The fresh guidance follows the July designation of four Wind Energy Areas off Nova Scotia: French Bank, Middle Bank, Sable Island Bank, and Sydney Bight.
Those zones were selected after public input this spring and will anchor the first round of leasing.
Provincial officials have said they aim to kick off leasing this year as part of an effort to build a new offshore wind industry and expand clean power on the Atlantic coast.
The regulator’s next steps matter because they provide market structure where none existed.
Prequalification will screen potential bidders on capability and financial strength, while the Call for Information will solicit feedback from communities, Indigenous groups, labor, and industry on how the first auction should be designed.
Together, those processes are meant to reduce risk and sharpen the rules before formal bids are invited for specific parcels.
Officials say they want projects that are environmentally responsible and commercially durable. The pathway was unlocked by federal legislation.
Bill C-49 amended the Atlantic Accord Acts to put offshore renewables under a modernized regulatory regime and to refashion the former petroleum board into today’s Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator.
The bill received Royal Assent in October 2024, with key provisions coming into force on January 31, 2025, which gave regulators clear authority over wind at sea.
The province has set a goal to offer licenses for up to 5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2030, a scale that would attract global developers and supply-chain investment while supporting regional decarbonization.
The government’s roadmap calls for a first call for bids in 2025, now backed by designated areas and a regulator that has the tools to run a transparent process.
Site characteristics suggest a mix of technologies could compete. Regulators describe Sable Island Bank and Middle Bank as conducive to fixed-bottom foundations, while deeper waters at French Bank point to floating platforms.
Sydney Bight could support either approach and sits closer to shore and existing port and grid infrastructure, which may ease early development.
Those distinctions will influence costs, timelines, and the type of local fabrication and marine services that take root.
The federal government has also flagged offshore wind as a candidate for fast-track attention within Ottawa’s new Major Projects Office.
That initiative aims to create regulatory certainty for nationally important projects and to align planning for new transmission and interties that would move electricity around Atlantic Canada.
Coordinating grid build-out with leasing and permitting will be critical to turning leases into power sales and, ultimately, steel in the water.
Investors will watch three things from here. First is the scope of prequalification and how it balances openness with rigor, since that will shape who can bid.
Second is the auction design, including seabed fees, bid credits, and expectations for local content and community benefits.
Third is environmental review, with designated areas in hand, project-by-project assessments remain a gating item, and how governments sequence those reviews will influence when the first turbines can be installed.
The clarity that arrived this month does not guarantee a ribbon-cutting date, but it does mark the start of a competitive process that Canada’s offshore wind hopefuls have been waiting for.
