Halifax School for the Blind

The Halifax School for the Blind opened on Morris Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia as the Halifax Asylum for the Blind in 1871, the first residential school for the blind in Canada.

[1] The first superintendent of the school (1873-1923)[2] was Sir Frederick Fraser who was himself visually impaired and had studied at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston.

[3] A private school for the first century of its existence, in 1975 the school became a public institution under the newly created Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority (APSEA), and it provided free education to pupils from throughout Atlantic Canada.

[4] The Halifax School for the Deaf was established earlier in 1856.

The two schools were consolidated at the APSEA Centre on South Street in 1994-1995.