Peggy’s Cove Infrastructure Improvement Strategy

Peggy’s Cove is one of Nova Scotia’s most iconic attractions. The unique coastal experience receives national and international recognition and high levels of visitation. With expansive granite rocks, bold coastline, crashing waves, and a historic lighthouse—Peggy’s Cove exemplifies the quintessential Nova Scotia that visitors love, and residents cherish.

It is also a living community, an active fishing village, and home to year-round residents.

The Peggy’s Cove Master Plan Project began through the Tourism Nova Scotia’s Tourism Revitalization of Icons Program (TRIP), an infrastructure funding program focused on revitalizing Nova Scotia’s most competitive tourism icons.

Build Nova Scotia worked in collaboration with the community of Peggy’s Cove to complete a comprehensive master plan and to execute the implementation of a first phase of infrastructure improvements that were informed by the master planning process. Given the Cove’s unique identity as both tourism icon and living community, and the significant challenges caused by its popularity, this work has been focused on balancing several important priorities:

• Ensuring the continued liveability of the community
• Creating a safe, accessible, and engaging experience for locals, visitors, and business operators
• Protecting the community from the impacts of climate change and sea level rise
• Protecting the icon’s value and the direct and indirect value that it generates for the province

The challenges facing the Cove are not new, and there has been significant urgency to curb decreasing quality of life for residents, steadily increasing impacts of climate change, and to keep visitor satisfaction rising with visitor numbers. The Peggy’s Cove Master Plan Project was devised to tackle these challenges and improve the quality of the village for residents and visitors alike.