With the passage of time, Atlantic Canada has grown in popularity and now it is not anymore the neglected child of the Maple Leaf Country though it is a fact that with smaller cities and a lower profile, the region conventionally has not witnessed large arrivals of new entrants to the country.
But what’s Atlantic Canada? For those not tuned in, it is the region of the Maple Leaf Country comprising the four provinces situated on the Atlantic coast, not including the Province of Quebec, namely, the three Maritime provinces, Prince Edward Island (PEI), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, not to mention the easternmost province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Atlantic Canada’s populace in 2011 was nearly 2,300,000 on half a million km2.
But new plans have fairly transformed this trend, even as immigrant societies are becoming pretty established and are increasing. Still, the general rate of immigration is not sufficiently enough to duly please regional administrations, which are battling with the difficulties of aging people, not-too-high birth rates, and constant labour famines.
To successfully handle these subjects, and make preparations for the future, Atlantic provincial administrations have reportedly come on a common platform, to come out with a regional immigration strategy, to make the Atlantic manpower bigger.
Allegedly, while each province has something exclusive to proffer, there are numerous regions where working together may do wonders and achieve more even as this plan is a key example. Through the agency, the federal administration and the provincial regimes of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI have together made an investment of 4.4 million dollars. Over a period of three years, these funds will be assigned to drawing and keeping hold of the newcomers and assisting them with employees’ integration.
Specific ventures comprise the formation of an Atlantic Immigration brand, the education of regional recruiters about more ground-breaking and inclusive human resource policies, and the development of a superior understanding of people and workforce retention issues.
Via the Provincial Nominee Programmes (PNPs) and additional regional initiatives to advance Atlantic Canada as an immigration hotspot, Atlantic cities have witnessed important improvements in the figure of new entrants. While over the previous seven years, Moncton (New Brunswick) has witnessed a rise of 74%, Charlottetown (PEI) has seen a rise of 50.2%, and Halifax (Nova Scotia) an increase of 44.8%.
As per the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC), the figure of the new visitors to the area has increased by 100% since 2002 to become almost 5,700 in 2007 even while the rates of retention have exhibited a clear progress since the 1990s.
Immigrant societies are reaching critical masses in numerous cities of the Atlantic Canada. For example, two years back, there just 40 Korean families could be found in Fredericton (New Brunswick), at present, the region boasts of over 220 such families. Now the area also boasts of a mosque. It is a vital cultural addition that was made in the previous decade. Services related to settlement and language training in English & French has also been becoming better.
