Elmsdale is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located on the boundary of the East Hants Municipality and Halifax Regional Municipality.

Elmsdale owes its early growth to the construction of the Shubenacadie Canal and the Nova Scotia Railway.

In 1852, Alexander Fraser built the first house in what is now in the village proper, about 100 yards (91 m) from the railway crossing.

John Cameron and family came from Nine Mile River to live in the large residence he had built on the crest of a gentle slope overlooking the village.

The community is divided by the Shubenacadie River from the Halifax Regional Municipality.