On arrival in Halifax he joined architect Henry Elliot as a draftsman, and by April 1862 they were partners.
Between 1857 and 1861 three fires had created the need to rebuild whole blocks in the business district of Halifax, and new regulations demanded that construction in the city centre use fire-proof materials rather than timber.
The partners were responsible for the design of several blocks of business buildings in brick, stone, fire-stone, and granite.
Other joint projects included a house for William Cunard (1864), the Halifax Protestant Industrial School (1871) and a Presbyterian church on Tobin Street (1871).
[1] From the time of its construction in 1872 until the early 1890s, Busch lived in the right-side of the townhouse at 2575 - 2581 Creighton Street, Halifax, now a municipally registered heritage property.