Food
Donair
duh-NAIR
Spiced beef on a spit, shaved into a pita with a sweet condensed-milk garlic sauce. Invented in Halifax in the 1970s and declared the city's official food in 2015. It is not a Turkish döner and locals will tell you so.
Daily life
HRM
aitch-arr-em
Halifax Regional Municipality — the 1996 amalgamation that swallowed Dartmouth, Bedford, Sackville and 5,490 km² of coastline. A 'Halifax' address can be an hour from downtown with no bus.
The noon gun
at 12:00, every day
A cannon fired from Citadel Hill at noon, audible across the peninsula and the harbour. It has been going since the nineteenth century and it startles you exactly once.
The Registry
'are you on the Registry?'
The Need a Family Practice Registry — the provincial list you join to be assigned a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Joining it in your first week is the standard local advice.
MSI
em-ess-eye
Medical Services Insurance, Nova Scotia's public health plan. No premium, but you must register and your start date depends on where you moved from.
Social
Come from away
'she's a come from away'
Someone not from here. Used across Atlantic Canada, mostly affectionately, occasionally not — and it can still apply after twenty years.
Kitchen party
'there's a kitchen party at Dave's'
An informal house session — fiddle, guitar, singing, everyone in the kitchen. A genuine Nova Scotian social form rather than something staged for visitors.
The Darkside
'he lives on the Darkside'
Dartmouth, across the harbour. Said with affection now that it has the better food scene, and originally not.
Right some
'that was right some good'
Maritime intensifier, roughly 'really' or 'very'. Layered on top of 'some', which is already doing that job. Charming and completely standard here.
Sook
sook, rhymes with 'book'
Someone sulking or feeling sorry for themselves — 'don't be a sook'. Universal in the Maritimes and unknown in the rest of Canada.
Emergency
Nor'easter
nor-EEST-er
The storm system that defines winter here: wind off the Atlantic, heavy wet snow or freezing rain, and multi-day power cuts. What you prepare for, rather than the temperature.
911
nine-one-one
Police, fire and ambulance. 811 is the nurse line and also where you join the family practice registry; 311 handles municipal services.
Work
Atlantic time
AST, GMT−4
An hour ahead of Toronto and Montreal, four behind London rather than five. Booking a meeting on Eastern time out of habit is the classic newcomer mistake, in both directions.
SIN
sin, said as a word
Social Insurance Number. No employer can put you on payroll without one. Free, from Service Canada, usually issued the same visit in person.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.