Every two years, the heart of Canada’s premier naval city beats a little louder. Halifax International Fleet Week returns June 19–22 along the Halifax Waterfront. This year’s celebration promises naval ship tours, public events, and cultural exhibitions.
Fleet Week underscores Halifax’s profound naval heritage and its ongoing global maritime role. For generations, families have bid farewell to loved ones here before deployments, and welcomed them home once again. It’s a place of pride, remembrance, and community unity. It’s also when Halifax shows the world its famed hospitality.
This year’s event features an international mix with Danish naval vessels, American naval vessels, and Canadian Navy ships, including the iconic Bluenose, an enduring symbol in Nova Scotia’s seafaring history.
“More than family tradition, it’s a legacy of service,” says Corinne MacLellan of the Halifax International Fleet Week Community Committee, now overseeing her second edition of the event. “You don’t need to dig deep to find generations who served. We put out a call and the community truly stepped up, bringing their best forward.”
MacLellan emphasizes that Fleet Week is a heartfelt “thank you” from Halifax: “For Halifax as a naval base, the waterfront is a landmark—it’s been the place where Canadians take their last step on home soil, kids say goodbye to parents, and welcome them back.”
A solemn and symbolic highlight of this year’s Halifax International Fleet Week is the unveiling of the rebuilt Last Steps Memorial Arch, which pays tribute to the thousands of Canadians who departed from Halifax for Europe during the First World War—many of whom never returned.
MacLellan said the tribute has been reimagined under the artistic guidance of Nancy Keating, the arch is being reconstructed by the Royal Canadian Navy’s Shipwrights Workshop at HMCS Cape Scott, in collaboration with Build Nova Scotia and project co-chairs Ken Hynes and MacLellan herself.
“Standing as a renewed place of remembrance and reflection, the unveiling coincides with the international spirit of Fleet Week and will feature a historic first: Last Post Buglers from the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, joined by members of the Last Post Association, Visit Flanders, and the Flemish Government, will travel to Halifax to perform the Last Post for the first time on Canadian soil,” she said.
This powerful moment of shared remembrance unites Canada and Belgium in honouring service, sacrifice, and enduring international bonds.
Visitors are urged to follow the schedule to ensure they can enjoy Halifax International Fleet Week.
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Ship tours (daily, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.) — guided access aboard Canadian, U.S., and Danish vessels
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Bluenose viewing and maritime exhibit — maritime history displays aboard or near the famous tall ship
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Cultural and family-friendly events — live music, naval band performances, kids’ activities, and naval demonstrations
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Community pavilion — local artisans, food trucks, and heritage storytelling
Each night, the waterfront lights up with a symbolic ceremony: community members, naval personnel, and families gather as a vessel’s horn sounds, signifying gratitude and pride for those who serve. In 2025, this will be underscored by a moment of recognized unity as Bluenose departs the harbour, saluting the city that built her legacy.
“This is something to be celebrated,” MacLellan says. “We wanted to show the world what Halifax does best… hospitality. It’s a wonderful way for the community to say thank you.”
This article appears in Jun 1-30, 2025.
