A $2-million investment from the McConnell Foundation is strengthening four African Nova Scotian community land trusts across the province — a move that community leaders say represents a long-term shift toward land security, self-determination, and collective ownership.
The funding, spread across a four-year period (2025–2029), supports Community Land Trusts (CLTs) in Truro, North End Halifax, Upper Hammonds Plains, and Weymouth Falls, helping to build internal capacity while advancing shared goals tied to reparations, housing stability, and land stewardship.
Community Land Trusts are nonprofit organizations that acquire and hold land in trust on behalf of a community. Rather than land being sold off for private profit, it is stewarded collectively — ensuring affordability, cultural preservation, and long-term community control. In African Nova Scotian communities, CLTs are increasingly being seen as a practical response to historic land loss, displacement, and exclusion from wealth-building opportunities tied to property ownership.
The largest individual commitment, $750,000, went to the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust, supporting staffing, administrative capacity, and the development of a province-wide Black-led CLT strategy, including partnerships with Indigenous communities.
In North End Halifax, $325,000 will support the “New Roots” Community Land Trust’s efforts to secure land in and around the Cogswell District — an area deeply impacted by past urban renewal and highway development. The trust is advocating for at least one parcel to remain under community stewardship, with plans for mixed-income housing, cultural space, and Black-owned commercial activity.
Weymouth Falls Community Land Trust received $600,000 to help restore the historic Mount Beulah Baptist Church site into a climate-resilient community hub, alongside land acquisition and long-term organizational development.
Another $325,000 was committed to DownTheMarsh Community Land Trustin Truro, supporting governance, land use planning, and financial sustainability as the organization works to revitalize a historically African Nova Scotian area that has experienced generations of land erosion and neglect.
As Dr. Lynn Jones of Truro put it during recent community discussions:
“Our communities are losing land at a phenomenal rate. Unless we take steps to reclaim land ourselves, it will be gone.”
Collectively, these four trusts form what organizers describe as a provincial ecosystem of Black land ownership, bridging rural, suburban, and urban communities. Leaders involved say the investment signals confidence not just in individual projects, but in Black-led governance models that prioritize intergenerational leadership, cultural continuity, and long-term stewardship.
While the McConnell Foundation funding is not the end of the story, it provides a rare form of support — operational funding — that allows communities to plan beyond survival and toward sustainability.
For many African Nova Scotian communities, the message is clear: land is not just an asset. It is memory, power, and future.
“Land is more than just property; it is the foundation of our sovereignty and our future. Deeply grateful to the McConnell Foundation for recognizing the power of the African Nova Scotian Community Land Trust model. By prioritizing our growth in this way, they are trusting Black-led organizations to do what we do best: take care of our own.”
— Treno Morton, President & CEO, North End Halifax “New Roots” Community Land Trust
“Investments toward operations are rare in our sector, but they are exactly what growing, start-up community enterprises need. This support gives UHPCLT the stability to grow at the pace our mission requires and the room to think big, plan responsibly, and keep pushing forward for our community.”
— Curtis Whiley, CEO, Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust
“As someone who grew up in Weymouth Falls, this support means way more than funding; it affirms our community’s history, resilience, and right to shape our future. The McConnell Foundation’s investment will help us protect the Mount Beulah Baptist Church, while also building a stronger, more energy-secured foundation that future generations can enjoy. It ensures that the land, stories, and spirit of the community remain in the hands of the people who call it home.”
— Dale Jarvis, Vice President, Weymouth Falls Community Land Trust
“Our communities are losing land at a phenomenal rate. Unless we take steps to reclaim land ourselves, it will be gone — which will leave us even more unhoused and displaced than we already are.”
— Lynn Jones, Order of Canada recipient, Truro, Nova Scotia (DownTheMarsh Community Land Trust)
