New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia have been experiencing aging and declining populations for a number of years. This is why the three Maritime premiers are suggesting that immigrants are needed in the Atlantic provinces.
“The imperative to have an immigration profile that is similar to the rest of the country in all aspects is mission critical,” Prince Edward Island Premier Wade MacLauchlan said Monday, according to the Times Colonist.
MacLauchian was responding to an Op/Ed written by Frank McKenna, the former premier of New Brunswick, who wrote that boosting Atlantic Canada’s population with immigrants is necessary to combating the region’s aging and declining populations. McKenna also pointed out that the Atlantic provinces only get about 2.5 percent of immigrants that come to Canada.
In 2014, New Brunswick saw deaths outpacing births for the first time, and McKenna said the rest of the country needs to sit up and take notice because an aging population costs more, and the declining population base will result in fewer transfers for health and education, as well as less money coming in from taxes.
McKenna, who is now deputy chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank, said in an interview, “Immigrants go where immigrants are. They are all going to Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. We have to break that mold somehow and it’s going to take a stiff dose of medicine to do that,” reports CTV News.
McKenna would like to see the new government create a special program just for Atlantic Canada that would require newcomers to the country to live for three to five years in the Maritime provinces before they are granted citizenship. “During that time it’s up to us as citizens, communities, and provinces to keep them here,” McKenna said.
Of course, forcing a Canadian citizen to live in a particular place is against the mobility laws set forth in the Canadian Constitution, but McKenna says Constitutional scholars say it could be a reasonable requirement for people seeking citizenship.
New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant says he has already spoken to someone in the new federal government about the aging demographics, and he plans to bring the question up next week when the federal cabinet meets in the province.
“Welcoming new Canadians to Atlantic Canada and to New Brunswick specifically is going to be a big part of ensuring we grow the economy,” Gallant said Monday. “Not only that, they add a lot to our culture, they add a lot to our diversity, and those are strengths that I think help any jurisdiction.”
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil was taking a more sensible approach to the issue when on Monday he pointed out the provinces have a responsibility to work with the communities and other groups to develop an infrastructure and the needed supports that would appeal to immigrants; one that encourages them to stay in the region.
McNeil realizes what he is suggesting won’t happen overnight, and will require some thoughtful planning at the provincial and the federal level. “We’re living longer and as we’re beginning to age and we begin to consume more health care dollars, we need younger people out there driving economic opportunity and job creation,” he said.
McKenna points out that Toronto’s population and the economy are thriving because of immigrants because of the entrepreneurial spirit and desire to work they bring with them. He says the same thing can happen in the Atlantic provinces if only they can entice immigrants to settle in the region.
“There’s an element of desperation in the way they’ve lived their lives. They have to work, and have to create jobs for their family members,” McKenna said. “They bring a shock to our society that we badly need.”
