ATTRACTING MORE NEWCOMERS

IMMIGRATION IS KEY TO ATLANTIC CANADA’S ECONOMIC AND POPULATION GROWTH, BUT RETENTION AND UNDER-EMPLOYMENT CONTINUE TO CHALLENGE US ALL. AS A RESULT, A SKILLED WORKFORCE REMAINS UNDER-EMPLOYED, AND OFTEN, THE PROMISE OF OPPORTUNITY IN MAJOR CANADIAN CITIES LURES PEOPLE AWAY FROM A REGION THAT NEEDS THEM MOST. SO WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO FINDING WORK IN ATLANTIC CANADA? WHAT’S BEING DONE TO MATCH TALENT WITH OUR LABOUR FORCE NEEDS?

FINDING WORK

More than 700 people got jobs after completing programs at the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) in Halifax last year. — Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia

WHY NEWCOMERS LEAVE

“The literature is clear on why immigrants leave Atlantic Canada: they seek better job opportunities and higher compensation, better educational opportunities for themselves and their children, better social services and cultural amenities, and ties to ethnic community and extended family.” — The People Imperative, a 2018 report by Public Policy Forum, an Ottawa-based think tank

THE ATTRACTION

“They (refugees) come here to contribute, they come here to give back to the community, and as a family that lost everything in the world, we know how they feel.” — Tareq Hadhad, CEO of Peace by Chocolate in Antigonish, N.S., in a recent Canadian Press interview