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The federal government has announced nearly $2 million in funding for the Halifax area to help prevent gun and gang violence in the community.
“We’re giving them the tools to turn away from crime,” said Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree in Dartmouth, N.S. Tuesday.
“This funding will support projects that address risk factors associated with gun and gang violence, specifically focusing on the underlying social conditions that lead young people to crime.”
The funds for Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) will be delivered through the federal government’s Build Safer Communities Fund, which is part of a larger $157.5-million commitment nationwide over the next three years.
Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore says these measures will strengthen community groups and hopefully steer vulnerable youth away from crime.
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“The best public safety work often begins much earlier. It begins when a young person finds a mentor or a program that they can believe in, a place where they belong,” said Fillmore.
Since 2022, the municipality has received more than $3 million during the federal program’s first installment. The city’s public safety advisor, Amy Siciliano, says the new funding will help expand crisis de-escalation supports for youth in need.
“We’ve really been able to build our internal capacity to better support community organizations as well as our own facilities like recreation centres, library work, to work alongside community to improve the conditions that create those safer places for everyone,” said Siciliano.
As well, officials say the support will improve spaces for youth to connect with a mentor and help them receive educational and mental health resources.
Some ideas include programs specific to anti-trafficking and sexual exploitation.
“We would like to develop tools and training to educate young people around healthy relationships and things to look out for online,” said Sylvia Ofunne, a social policy strategist with the municipality.
The federal government says funding was issued based on the severity of crime in a community. HRM data shows there were nine homicides and 30 shootings in 2025.
With these additional supports, officials say they hope those figures will be reduced.
“(We) want to counter that with off-ramps that will enable young people to not fall into that trap of the criminal justice system,” said Anandasangaree.
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