We Nova Scotians have had a long-standing dream: that of making our beautiful province stand tall, being the best amalgamation of history and modernism, being synonymous with good education and a great place to work and live in, while cherishing and preserving the natural beauty of the Maritimes and honing its character as we grow. We wish to bring the world's finest skills on board with an unmatched lifestyle. With the increase in immigration, we have started on our path but there is much to be accomplished before we reach our destination. The current housing crisis in NS is a true snapshot of the national scenario. But housing being a basic need, is it going to affect immigration? People need a place to live, and if this basic need is not met, then sadly they may move elsewhere.
Nova Scotia crossed the one million population mark in December 2021 and has been growing ever since. But even as we attract more skilled professionals to our door, the big question is, where are they going to live? To quote Federal Immigration Minister Mark Miller, "Volume is volume, and it does have an impact".
In my almost 25-years-strong experience in the Canadian immigration sector, I have never seen such a spurt in the influx of people into the province as I’ve seen recently. Even during early 2020, you'd see many fewer non-local faces around – and now, at least three out of five are immigrants. My office receives queries from people from all over the world, wanting to come to Canada to study, work, or live. Those who are already here are now keen to make Nova Scotia their permanent home and bring their families too.
The Government released a new 5-year housing plan on October 23, 2023, with a projected $1 billion investment and a vision to create over 40,000 new housing units all across the province. While promising, this is a tall order and will need to be a very well-coordinated project to succeed within the projected timeframe.
I feel that, while more and more people seem to be keen to move to this side of the world, the need for transparency is greater than ever before. There is a wealth of highly skilled people outside Canada, wanting to move in – but the current policies do not allow for much value of their expertise unless they have Canadian backing. We need to have clarity about immigration policies in order to attract and retain the skilled immigrants that we need. Interestingly, it is noteworthy that immigration, or an increase therein, is not the cause of the housing crisis in Canada or even NS – in fact, one view is that we should be bringing in more skilled workers — to build the new housing units, increase our childcare potential, and address the labour gaps in health care systems.
People who choose to take the big leap of stepping out of their comfort zone and moving to another country are not faint-hearted. It is understood that while the housing crunch is real, it may well be a time-bound problem. With the government addressing the matter as one of paramount importance, I feel it's only a matter of time before we start getting that world-famous Canadian response to dealing with the housing crisis, eh?
< Back to Articles | Topics: Trends