Halifax Wanderers propose new stadium compatible with Canadian football

Photo: Halifax Wanderers

The Halifax Wanderers have presented a proposal to Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) to build a permanent stadium at the Wanderers Grounds, it was announced on Tuesday.

The new venue would seat 10,500 for sporting events and 17,500 for concerts, and have enough space for a Canadian football field. All seating would be covered, with 650 parking spots being built underground.

In the announcement, the stadium is touted as a “sport and entertainment hub,” which could “properly host a multitude of events,” including outdoor concerts and performances, professional and international soccer matches, amateur field sports, high school sports, professional Canadian football games, and outdoor hockey games.

The smallest venue in the Canadian Football League is Percival Molson Memorial Stadium, which has a capacity of 23,035.

The Wanderers Grounds currently houses a temporary facility that has no running water, portable toilets, aluminum benches, locker rooms housed in converted shipping containers, and lighting that’s inadequate for night games.

Approved in 2017, the pop-up venue has hosted Wanderers matches since 2019, and Halifax Tides matches since 2025. Capacity was expanded from 6,500 to 7,500 in 2025.

Despite middling on-field results, Halifax has consistently placed at or near the top of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) in average attendance.

The new surface would be artificial turf, which would allow community groups, youth organizations, and schools to use the facility. Currently, availability is limited because the surface is natural grass.

The Wanderers believe an artificial surface would “unlock over 5,000 hours of community field time.” The new field would also be oriented north-south, as per FIFA recommendations. The existing field is oriented east-west.

The club has indicated it will privately fund the project, which is seeking final approval by November. Construction would begin in January 2027, and finish by May 2028.

“The inability to allocate significant public money to the building of a permanent stadium has been a major reason for the prolonged use of a temporary venue,” the Wanderers wrote in their announcement.

“HRM has a capital budget shortfall that is putting an incredible amount of pressure on resources and forces a number of difficult decisions around sport and recreation infrastructure.

“With the upcoming capital requirements at the existing HRM-owned Scotiabank Centre and Forum estimated to cost more than half a billion dollars, there is realistically no solution to give citizens the outdoor sports and entertainment venue they deserve.”

The announcement included a caveat — if bringing running water to the site takes longer than anticipated, the timeline for completion would have to be pushed back.

To help alleviate the timeline, the Wanderers are proposing a revitalization of the Maybank soccer fields in Dartmouth.

The project would include a new Wanderers training facility, which would also offer community field time. That could also serve as a temporary home for Halifax’s professional teams during the construction of the new stadium at the Wanderers Grounds.