Nova Scotia Investing $2.5 Million to Attract Newcomers

Nova Scotia plans to double their population by 2060; to this end, the Atlantic province has announced that they will be investing significant funds in a marketing program to help attract newcomers.

Nova Scotia’s investment in immigration

The Labour, Skills and Immigration Department of the Nova Scotia government has announced that they will be investing $2.5 million in a marketing program to attract newcomers to the province. The details of the campaign and who is designing it has not yet been determined.

While the goal of the program is to attract newcomers from both within and outside of Canada, there will be a strong focus on immigration. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration numbers decreased due to delays in processing and border and travel restrictions. As immigration begins to return to a pre-pandemic normalcy, Nova Scotia is gearing up to market their province to an international audience.

“We have new immigrants coming to this province. We also have international students studying here, and from conversations that I have had with them, they want to make Nova Scotia their home and we want to make that happen for them” (Jill Balser, Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration).

Nova Scotia immigration programs

Nova Scotia currently offers several nominee programs for candidates with job offers, work experience, or who have recently graduated from a post-secondary school in the province.

The province also hosts a program that routinely invites candidates from the Express Entry pool based on labour market needs. The Labour Market Priorities program has previously invited Express Entry candidates with strong French proficiency, or work experience in an in-demand occupation.

As the Atlantic provinces face a growing population crisis, they are increasingly looking to immigration programs to fill demographic and labour gaps. To assist in this, the federal government has also implemented the Atlantic Immigration Program. This program that makes it easier for designated Atlantic employers to hire foreign nationals, and offers a pathway to permanent residence for these foreign nationals with qualifying job offers.