Trade Centre Limited (TCL), the provincial Crown corporation that operated the World Trade and Convention Centre, advocated replacing the facility to accommodate demand for larger scale conventions, citing the lack of a dedicated exhibition room and the larger size of comparable facilities elsewhere in the country.

In 2008, Trade Centre Limited and the provincial Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal issued an expression of interest for an expanded facility.

In August 2011, the federal government announced it would invest $51 million toward eligible construction costs for the new convention centre.

The remaining funding was shared by the Province of Nova Scotia and the Halifax Regional Municipality, with each contributing $56.4 million.

[5] Auditor General Jacques Lapointe, in 2012, criticized the market study used to justify construction of the new convention centre.

[6][7] The branding and name of the facility, Halifax Convention Centre, were announced in early 2014 by Ferguson, who praised the "simplicity" and marketing sense of the name and graphic identity.

This proposal went before the Design Review Committee on March 20 and was subsequently approved and recommended to Regional Council on April 1, 2014.