Halifax Self‑guided Tour

Dalhousie University is Atlantic Canada’s leading research-intensive university. Through teaching and learning, research, and service, we drive the region’s intellectual, social and economic development and make a lasting impact on our world.

With over 200 years of achievement, our legacy lives in our people and the impact we make — in developing ideas, knowledge and talent to build a better country and a better world.

Located in the heart of Halifax, with an Agricultural Campus in Truro/Bible Hill, Dalhousie is a truly national and international university, with more than half of our almost 21,000 students coming from outside of the province. Our 6,000 faculty and staff foster a diverse, purpose-driven community, one that spans 13 faculties and conducts more than $214 million in research each year.

As we enter of our third century, we are more relevant, more connected and more vibrant than ever. And our best is still to come.

LeMarchant Place
(1246 Lemarchant St, Halifax, NS)

Our office is in the services section of the LeMarchant Place Building. You’ll find our Welcome Centre, International Centre and Wellness Centre in this area. Through a separate entrance, students access five floors of residence rooms, many with epic views of all the sports action on Wickwire Field.

Residence is a common accommodation choice for first-year students. Dalhousie offers a mix of both single and double rooms, 80% of which are single. It offers a very convenient and safe living space with a built-in fun and supportive community. All residence students in first year must have a meal plan to eat in the residence dining halls. These dining halls offer a variety of cuisine, including halal, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options.

Many local students also choose to live at home or off-campus. There are choices of meal plans for off-campus students as well, but they are not required. 

Included with your fees is a Halifax Transit bus pass for the academic year, which works for all buses and ferries in the HRM. Students can drive to campus but a parking pass is required to park on-campus. Parking is not guaranteed and can be challenging. Residence students wishing to bring a car to campus, must pay for underground parking, due to parking lots needing to be clear for snow removal. This can be quite pricey, depending on your budget.

Student Union Building
(6136 University Ave, Halifax, NS)

Dalhousie’s university community includes almost 21,000 students, representing over 120 countries from around the world. You’ll have the opportunity to meet new people and learn from diverse experiences and perspectives in a safe, diverse, and welcoming campus environment.

The Student Union Building (referred to most often as the SUB) is the hub of social and student life on campus. At Dal, you’ll have over 400 clubs and societies to choose from, where you can connect with others with similar interests, or try something new. A few examples include board gaming, board riding (surfing, snowboarding, and skateboarding), cheerleading, dance, Engineering without Borders, fencing, geocaching, theatre and ultimate frisbee, just to name a few.

There are also tons of great after-class activities hosted through Dal After Dark and other groups on campus. A few examples of these activities include things like paint nights, "BBQ and basketball", dive-in movies (watching a movie like Jaws while floating in our Olympic sized swimming pool), ski trips, go-karting, karaoke, film festivals, escape rooms, VR and gaming, and scavenger hunts!

Students also have tons of opportunity to stay active. Access to our athletic facilities is included in fees. There are also varsity, intramural, and club-level opportunities to stay involved in sport.

It’s important that students balance academics with the other facets of their lives, including wellness, activities, and work. Your university experience will impact you significantly. You’ll shape your university community with your unique interests, aspirations, and contributions, just as much as it will shape you. We encourage you to use your time at Dalhousie as a catalyst for your impact on the world.

Dalhousie Arts Centre
(6101 University Ave, Halifax, NS)

The Dal Arts Centre features the largest auditorium on campus, the Rebecca Cohn, where both convocation and induction takes place. It is the home of Dalhousie’s Music and Theatre programs and to Symphony Nova Scotia. It also hosts shows from popular artists, which as a Dal student you can enjoy at a reduced ticket price.

We are currently in the process of building the Joseph Strug concert hall, which will provide an upgraded space for the Fountain School of Performing Arts Students.

Goldberg Computer Science Building
(6056 University Ave, Halifax, NS)

At 6,500 square metres, the Goldberg building is home to the Faculty of Computer Science and features a large auditorium and seminar rooms, study carrels, offices, nine "playgrounds” and an ICT Sandbox for research and development.  It also boasts high-tech equipment, full and fast hardwiring, and an atrium with a coffee shop.

Its innovative design features plentiful open spaces and a generous natural light.

Home of ShiftKey Labs, which features two “playgrounds”, meant to inspire research and development among faculty and students alike. 

Fun Fact: The building was designed to emulate the flow of information in a computer!

Kenneth Rowe Management Building
(6100 University Ave, Halifax, NS)

The Kenneth C. Rowe Building is home to the Rowe School of Business. The Rowe Building was Dalhousie’s first structure to be designed, built, and maintained to meet the highest possible environmental standards. All Dal buildings since aspire to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold standard sustainability certification.  This building features impressive natural lighting, a hybrid pendulum electric elevator system, flow meters, sensors and a heat recovery system.

Dalhousie offers a multi-disciplinary program in Environment, Sustainability and Society. It is a unique program in Canada, which brings together students from across most academic disciplines, to tackle some of the most critical issues facing our world today. Studies in Sustainability can be combined with almost all undergraduate degree programs.

Students interested in studies related to Business can choose from one of two undergraduate programs – Commerce or Management. Both programs offer experiential learning opportunities, through paid co-ops in Commerce and internship opportunities in Management. All students at Dal have experiential learning built into their programs. These are real world opportunities to put into practice what is learned in the classroom. 

Marion McCain Art and Social Sciences Building
(6135 University Ave, Halifax, NS)

The Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building, also known as the "FASS Building" (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences), opened in 2001. The building boasts large auditoriums, language labs, classrooms and the offices the faculty's departments and of the Dean.

McCain is full of great study spaces including the cozy fireside lounge

Each department is situated within a house façade that is visible from the courtyard, emulating the former houses within FASS that existed separately prior to the McCain's construction.

Killam Memorial Library
(6225 University Ave, Halifax)

The Killam Memorial Library is the largest academic library in the Maritimes, with over half a million books and 25,000 journals online and on the shelf. The Killam Library also houses the Student Accessibility Centre, the Learning Commons, the Writing Centre, conference rooms, and on the lower level, a "tunnel" runs underground connecting to the Life Sciences Centre.

Just outside the Killam, next to the stairway, you'll find the Mark A. Hill Accessibility Centre, which is open during testing only.

The Killam is the largest library on campus. Also, the largest library east of Montreal.

The inner atrium was originally open to the elements (including rain and snow!) but eventually a sky light was installed which allowed for more student space.

Fun Fact: The building’s fortress-esque appearance is due to it being designed in a time of book burnings in the late 1960s. The intention was to symbolically protect its assets, which are its 1 million plus printed volumes and access to over 40,000 journals.

Chemistry Building
(6274 Coburg Rd, Halifax)

The first building constructed on Dalhousie's Studley campus, this gracious, Georgian-styled building is currently occupied by the Department of Chemistry. During 1964-65, a link was constructed to the Macdonald Library, creating 40,000 square feet of new floor space. Renovations in 1991 added almost 23,000 square feet on the north side of the building, including new undergraduate laboratories.

The "Podium" was added to the north side of the Chemistry building in 1985, creating 20,000 square feet of well-equipped, new undergraduate laboratories. This facility provides among the most modern undergraduate chemistry laboratories in North America.

It is currently the oldest building on Dalhousie’s Studley campus, constructed with Ironstone from nearby Purcell’s Cove.

The Halifax Explosion in 1917 caused extensive damage to most of the windows on the harbor-facing side.

Fun Fact: The tunnel system runs from the Killam Library all the way to the Life Sciences Centre with the Chemistry labs being held underground!

Henry Hicks Arts and Administration Building
(6299 South St, Halifax, NS)

The Henry Hicks building is Dal’s most recognizable building due to its iconic clocktower, but students are often surprised to know it is by no means our oldest building. Dal was established in 1818 (over 200 years ago). As a university community, we are proud of our long legacy of academic excellence. Our first location was downtown where Halifax City Hall sits today. We moved to our current location, in the South End of Halifax, when we outgrew our original space.

Dalhousie is now made up of several campuses. You are currently on the main Studley Campus. About a five-minute walk from here, across Robie Street, is our Carleton Campus, where most of our Health programs are housed. Further down, beside the new Halifax Public Library on Spring Garden Road, is the Sexton Campus, which houses upper-year Engineering and Architecture & Planning.

Dal also has a campus in Truro, which is home to the Faculty of Agriculture, and is known as a living lab. You might be surprised to know that Agriculture includes a variety of program options. A few examples include International Food Business, Plant Science, Agricultural Business, Plant Science, Bioveterinary and Pre-Veterinary Science, Landscape Architecture, and more. You can even complete your first two years of Engineering on the Truro Campus!

Recently, we’ve also introduced the Truro Start program, where students can start their first year of study on the Truro Campus in Applied Computer Science, Computer Science or Science, then transition to the Halifax campus in second year. 

Wallace McCain Learning Commons
(Lord Dalhousie Dr, Halifax, NS)

The McCain Learning Commons features over 30 computers, a printing station, a quiet study area, Help Desk, librarian services, bookable study rooms, and a small classroom bookable through the Faculty of Science office.

Built in 2011 to create additional study spaces for our students, the Learning Commons boasts small study rooms with whiteboards that students can book for two-hour periods of time, which can be great for group projects or study sessions.

University of King’s College
(6350 Coburg Rd, Halifax, NS)

The University of King's College, established in 1789, is the oldest chartered university in Canada and the first English-speaking university in the Commonwealth outside the UK. The university is known for its reknowned Foundation Year Program, a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of Western culture through great books designed for first-year undergraduates. The university also has a prestigious Journalism School that attracts students for both undergraduate and graduate study.

Fun fact: While King's is a distinct institution, we have a unique partnership where any Dalhousie student can take a course or major at King’s and vice versa for King’s students!

Life Sciences Centre
(1355 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS)

The Life Sciences Centre, otherwise known as the LSC, is home to the Faculty of Science, which is one of Dal’s largest faculties. Students have tons of choice with respect to academic options in the Faculty of Science. Science students are able to not only pursue majors within that faculty, but can combine their interests across other faculties. Double majors in two Science, or an Arts and a Science discipline are possible. Students typically choose from the 19 Science and 24 Arts majors at the end of their first year of study.

This building has a number of unique features, including a roof-top greenhouse and the unique and world-reknowned Aquatron marine research facility. 

The Aquatron system draws ocean water directly from the Northwest Arm, located just 300 meters from campus, to feed a series of wet labs, a pool tank, tower tank and other facilities. The touch tanks you see here are filled with sea life collected by students for observation in first-year labs.

Marine research is significant here and Dal is home to world class researchers and many impactful programs and institutes. Research is not limited to Science; it is a hallmark of every faculty and department on campus!

Dal profs are not only teaching, but actively involved in creating knowledge. We are proud to be the most active research institution in our region, and are a member of the U15, the top 15 research institutions in Canada. A university’s research accomplishments contribute directly to your academic experience and the global recognition of your degree.

Science students have access to many types of experiential learning, including labs, field courses, co-op terms and research involvement.

A unique program available to DAL students is SEASIDE, a series of condensed summer field courses. Students learn practical skills and apply theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom. The classes take students to saltwater marshes, tidal pools, onto research vessels and more! 

Dalplex
(6260 South St, Halifax, NS)

Dalplex is our Recreation and Athletic Centre as well as the home of the Kinesiology and Recreation Departments. Within its 16,722 square metres of activity space, you'll find an indoor running track, 50 meter/8 lane swimming pool, weight-training equipment, basketball courts, indoor rock climbing walls, saunas, squash, racquetball & table tennis courts, and a Fun Zone play area for kids. Learn more about Dalplex.

Fun fact: the older portion of Dalplex is famous for its bubble field house, the only facility of its kind in North America, being held up entirely by air pressure!

Full time Dalhousie students receive a full access membership to Dalplex.

Richard Murray Design Building
(Morris St, Halifax, NS)

Home to 450 seat Irving Oil auditorium, four new design studios for Architecture and Planning students, bookable student meeting rooms, ample seating collaborative space, as well as engineering student society. Design Commons on the 2^nd floor features open concept collaboration space, and study spaces for students.

First floor – ground level is Alumni Lounge where you can find Enrollment Services, Bookstore, Fredericks Coffee Shop, Melda Murray Student Centre and IT help desk. Enrollment Services assist students with confirmation of enrollment, registration to classes, DalCard, transcripts. You will find Dal swags for faculty of engineering at the Bookstore. Melda Murray Student Centre provides supports to students around accessibility, academic support, career counselling and study skills and much more.

Sexton Memorial Gymnasium
(1360 Barrington St, Halifax, NS)

Sexton Gymnasium provides a space for students to play intramurals, varsity and hold sports games. Often at the end of the term students will use the space to write exams. First level of the Sexton Gym you will also find weight and cardio room, spin classroom. Full-time Dal students have a full membership to access the gym facilities. Just around the corner of Sexton Gym, you will find T-Room which is a student run pub that has dart, pool, often host events by student societies, bingo nights and trivia nights.

Emera Idea Building
(1345 Norma Eddy Ln, Halifax, NS)

With the state-of-the-art workshops and laboratories, the Emera IdeaHub, and the MakerSpace, the Emera IDEA Building constructed for the IDEA Project, this building will enhance Dalhousie’s capacity for research and development. This space provides tools and workshops to help students, faculty and local companies build prototypes and enhance engineering skills. This is where students and entrepreneurs, startup companies can work individually or collaboratively to enhance their work. 

This building provides students with five new states of the art workshops and prototyping labs as well as innovation studios focused on hardware-based entrepreneurship, creating great opportunities for research. 

Emera ideaHUB: an advanced incubator space designed to help students, faculty and local startups develop entrepreneurial and innovation capacity, design and build prototypes. IdeaHUB will help business growth and create an environment in which ideas and talent developed. This will also support educational and career-building opportunities for Dalhousie’s engineering students with experience and connections by applying their skills to real world projects.

Forrest Building

The building is a central part of the Carleton Campus and houses the school of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy. First floor of the building houses the Simulation Lab and the Nursing Faculty advisors. The equipment in the Simulation Labs is high technology, it is intended to mimic a clinical environment to provide the level of realism required to promote experiential learning. The Forrest Building houses, study spaces, classrooms, faculty offices, lockers, and lounge area for Nursing students as well as Indigenous student lounge.

Collaborative Health and Education Building
(5793 University Ave, Halifax, NS)

The only purpose build facility of its kind in Atlantic Canada, the CHEB is designed to facilitate the transformation of health education for students at Dalhousie and foster a cultural shift in health care toward greater interprofessional collaborative care. 

Building boast large classrooms, non-auditorium style learning environment. Second floor of CHEB Building houses the Kellogg Health Science Library, which has bookable classes, quiet areas, whiteboard, computer labs and collaborative study spaces.  3^rd Floor of CHEB is where you will find Centre for Collaborative, Clinical Learning and Research (CCCLR). The space boasts discussion rooms, patient rooms, debrief room, simulation suites. These are patient care labs, simulate a hospital wing setting.

Collaborative Health and Education Building
(5793 University Ave, Halifax, NS)

Clinical simulations provide students the opportunity to learn real life clinical lessons in a realistic, risk-free environment while practicing interdisciplinary communication and teamwork skills. The facility offers practice scenarios for different levels of experience and education. Working with simulated patients helps students develop valuable communication skills, diagnostic techniques, and patient care experience.