Cape Breton Regional Municipality (often referred to as simply "CBRM") is the Canadian province of Nova Scotia's second largest municipality and the economic heart of Cape Breton Island. As of 2021 the municipality has a population of 93,694. The municipality was created in 1995 through the amalgamation of eight municipalities located in Cape Breton County.
The region is home to a significant concentration of government services, social enterprise and private sector companies, including the Canadian Coast Guard College, Cape Breton University, NSCC Marconi campus, and New Dawn Enterprises. The rural areas of the municipality continue to host resource industries such as agriculture, fishing, mining, and forestry. CBRM is host to many cultural landmarks and institutions such as the historic Savoy Theatre, the Celtic Colours International Festival, the Cape Breton Centre for Craft, the Highland Arts Theatre, and Holy Angels Arts & Cultural centre, currently undergoing a $12-million renovation.
The area hosts one of Nova Scotia's premier tourism destinations, the Fortress of Louisbourg national park site, operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum. The site stands as the largest reconstruction project in North America. The Port of Sydney was projected to welcome a record 135,000 cruise ship visitors in 2017, a 67 per cent increase on 2016. The Trans-Canada Highway terminates in North Sydney where Marine Atlantic ferries connect to both Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, where the highway starts again, and Argentia.
History
Early history
The glaciers began their retreat from the Maritimes approximately 13,500 years ago, with final deglaciation, post-glacial rebound, and sea level fluctuation ending and leaving the New England-Maritimes region virtually ice free 11,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of Paleo-Indian settlement in the region follows rapidly after deglaciation. Evidence of settlement found in the Debert Palaeo-Indian Site dates to 10,600 before present, though settlement seems likely to have occurred earlier, following large game animals such as the caribou as they expanded into the land revealed by the retreating glaciers. The record of continuous habitation through the paleo and archaic period over ten thousand years culminated in the development of the culture, traditions, and language of the First Nations people now known as the Mi'kmaq.
Mi'kmaq
The Palaeoindians inhabiting the area prior to European arrival lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle, following the cycle of the seasons in search of food and resources, which required the frequent moving from place to place. The area known as Cape Breton Island has been a part of the territory of the Mi'kmaq nation of Mi'kma'ki. Mi'kma'ki included what is now the Maritimes, parts of Maine, Newfoundland and the Gaspé Peninsula.
French settlement
The French were the first Europeans to claim the region, which was named Acadia. Control passed back and forth between the English and French throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Under the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, France retained control of "Île Royale". In 1719, France began construction on a fortified town located along the sheltered southwestern shore of Havre Louisbourg, naming the settlement Louisbourg.
The fortress was captured by British colonial forces, then returned by the British to France. It was captured again during the Seven Years' War which saw the inhabitants expelled and the fortress completely destroyed by British Army engineers in 1760.
Post-Acadian settlement
By proclamation of October 17, 1763, after termination of the Seven Years' War, Île Royale was renamed Cape Breton Island and was formally annexed to Nova Scotia. For a time thereafter Cape Breton Island was part of Halifax County. On December 10, 1765, Cape Breton Island was set apart as a separate county. In 1784, the island was made a separate colony with its capital at Sydney however by 1820 the colony was remerged into Nova Scotia.
Industrial activity
Coal mining began during the 18th century to supply Fortress Louisbourg. Industrial mining began in 1826 under the General Mining Association monopoly, followed in later years by independent American-owned mines south of Sydney Harbour. Large-scale mining commenced in 1893 under the auspices of the Dominion Coal Company (DOMCO) which merged these independent mines. Coal production under Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (DOSCO) peaked in the early 1940s and in 1957 the company became a subsidiary of Hawker Siddeley Group. The company announced in 1965 that it would be exiting the coal mining business within months.