New Canadian Immigrants eyeing on Atlantic Canada now

The Atlantic region of Canada consists of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. For several years, the government of Canada has been making efforts to attract newcomers to Atlantic Canada. Atlantic Canada offers a great quality of life with a good work-life balance. A newcomer can experience city life as well as serenity in Atlantic Canada. The province of Nova Scotia inhabits more than 1 million people. New Brunswick is also attracting a lot of new immigrants.

Why the Canadian government wants immigrants in Atlantic Canada?

The Maritime provinces have low birth rates, an aging population, higher youth migration, and lower rates of migration from other provinces. As a consequence, the federal government and provincial governments are making efforts to welcome a large number of newcomers in the Atlantic region and retain the existing immigrants, skilled workers, and international students.

Immigration History of Atlantic Canada:

About 6.5 percent of Canada’s population lives in Atlantic Canada. However, the region faces a huge shortage of skilled workers. Therefore, it requires a large number of immigrants to fill the labor gap. In 2010, only 3 percent of the total newcomers arrived in Atlantic Canada. To be precise, only 8,000 people immigrated to the Atlantic region. After 6 years, in 2016, the region started experiencing a grand immigration revolution as nearly 5 percent of total new immigrants moved to Atlantic Canada. This happened majorly because of the immigration of Syrian refugees and newcomers through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). In 2017, the Canadian government initiated the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) to help the region promote immigration. Together with the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic immigration pilot helped to bring nearly 14,000 immigrants in the year 2018.

Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program Extended in 2019:

Last year, the Government of Canada extended the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) by 2 years. The AIPP is a part of the Atlantic growth strategy and is designed to help employers hire foreign talent and overcome labor shortages. It also aims to help international graduates to stay in the Atlantic region after they graduate. The four provinces of Atlantic Canada; Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island are a part of AIPP.

18,000 Newcomers welcomed by Atlantic Canada in 2019:

With an influx of 18,000 new immigrants, the total number of immigrants that moved to Atlantic Canada in 2019 increased by 26 percent. Moreover, all four provinces experienced a rise in the number of immigrants. New Brunswick leading the chart saw the greatest rise as 6,000 new immigrants moved to the province as compared with 4,600 in 2018. Next, Nova Scotia gained 7,600 immigrants experiencing a rise of 27 percent as compared to the previous year. Newfoundland and Labrador also had an intake of approximately 1,900 immigrants against 1,500 the previous year. Prince Edward Island took 400 more immigrants as compared with 2,100 in 2018.

Is Atlantic Canada ready for 2021?

By the year 2021, Atlantic Canada might reach its target. The province needs to have an influx of approximately 24,000 new immigrants in order to have a proportional share of newcomers to Canada. Also, the federal government released a mandate letter last year in which it was mentioned to make Atlantic Immigration Pilot permanent. AIPP will help the provincial government get more immigrants. Atlantic Canada is going in the right direction. The number of new immigrants moving to all four provinces is rising each year. It can be believed that the Maritime provinces will meet the 2019-2021 Immigration target if they keep moving forward with the help of new initiatives like AIPP.