BREAKING: Nova Scotia announces plan to drop vax passport system

"This is significant, and I know as much as this is the news so many have been waiting for there are many, many others who are extremely nervous by that news," Houston said during a press conference.

"But no matter what emotions you are experiencing, right now we can all agree that this has been a long, long run."

The province currently has 11 people in ICU, with 49 in hospital.

"We know that COVID-zero is not a reality. Certainly not right now... Living with COVID, that's the reality, that has to become our new reality, and I know and I respect that that's a scary thought for some Nova Scotians," he said.

Houston said that this announcement, in many ways, was a start on the road to normalcy. He said that the proof of vaccine system has served its purpose, but it was a temporary measure whose time has come.

Nova Scotia has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world for any jurisdiction, with over 92 percent having received at least one dose. 86 percent have received at least two doses.