I've never been to nova Scotia- although I've planned trips to go there more than once.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the colors of the lighthouse you saw were red and white or white and red.
This describes about 95% of the lighthouses in Nova Scotia- probably in the Maritime Provinces as well.
I know- not much help. I couldn't resist, though.
Here's a site for you to start at-
Lighthouses of Nova Scotia
http://www.nslps.com/index.asp and also
Lighthouse Directory
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/
Dennis