#Eastsizing advice
New Islander keynote speaker at Advancing Island Connections West event
Kent Bruyneel stood in front of a couple of hundred people recently and told them it was their duty, whether they were new Canadians or born here, to enrich this province in every sense of the word. Bruyneel was the keynote speaker at the Advancing Island Connections West event, which was held at Credit Union Place in Summerside.
“You are this country,” he said. “You do not owe us anything at the border other than the fullness of your personality, the fullness of your character, the fullness of your history, the fullness of your culture. This is a place built on multiculturalism, it demands multiculturalism. We have every chance to make this the most exciting … place in the world because of you.” Advancing Island Connections West is an initiative of Island Advance, which was founded by the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce to help connect newcomer investors with Island businesses looking for new investors or to sell outright. Bruyneel and his family made headlines last year when they used social media to document their journey from living in Vancouver to a new home on P.E.I. He told the crowd his family had been living “house poor” in Vancouver, with a huge percentage of their monthly income going to their mortgage payments. They’d talked about eventually retiring to P.E.I., but
with their lives stuck in a holding pattern thanks to their housing costs, the couple decided they had nothing to lose and everything to gain by moving to the East Coast earlier than expected, and taking advantage of lower housing costs.
They came up with the social media hashtag #eastsizing, a play on downsizing, and set off on their adventure.
Their journey garnered a lot of media attention as people followed their progress across the country, and Bruyneel said that goodwill has continued for the family even a year later. “We haven’t had a minute of thinking it was the wrong move,” he said.
Island Advance started Advancing Island Connections West in 2016 to help expose
newcomer investors to opportunities outside of Charlottetown.
Wayne Carew, chairman of the Island Advance Advisory Board, said they had a good event with a lot of potential business connections made.
“The message today really is that Summerside, and the western part of the Island, is open for business. That there are great opportunities there, there are strong entrepreneurs and a strong feeling of entrepreneurship right across the western part of P.E.I. And we want immigrants to not just focus on one particular area, but to look at the entire province as an opportunity to either start a new business or buy a new business.”