Nova Scotia, Canadian province located on the eastern seaboard of North America, one of the four original provinces (along with New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec) that constituted the Dominion of Canada in 1867.

All of Nova Scotia’s four founding cultures share a love of music, family, history, and celebration. Native Mi’kmaq lived and fished in Nova Scotia’s rich waters for at least 5,000 years before John Cabot became the first documented European to sail along Nova Scotia’s coast in 1497.

The late 19th century witnessed the extensive industrialization of parts of Nova Scotia, but in general the early 20th century saw the consolidation of financial and industrial power in Montreal and Toronto. The extensive out-migration of Nova Scotians, mainly to the New England states and western Canada, was a sign of the troubled economy.