Moncton in particular has witnessed a dramatic rise in newcomers, including permanent residents, temporary foreign workers, and international students.
Moncton in particular has witnessed a dramatic rise in newcomers, including permanent residents, temporary foreign workers, and international students.
Canada is currently experiencing a significant increase in its population as largely fueled by a surge in immigration, according to Statistics Canada.
The latest data revealed that the country is undergoing its most substantial population growth in over six decades, the CTV News reported.
The city of Moncton in New Brunswick in particular has witnessed a dramatic rise in newcomers, including permanent residents, temporary foreign workers, and international students.
“We’ve seen a drastic increase in the number of newcomers coming in both permanent residents, temporary foreign workers, and international students,“ said John Wishart, CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce.
In 2022, there were 4,700 new permanent residents welcomed to the Moncton CMA. “[T]hat’s far in away the most in any given year,” he added.
Unprecedented population surge
Canada’s total population grew by 2.9 percent from July 2022 to July 2023, surpassing 40 million people. International migration, with increased work and study permits, accounts for a whopping 98 percent of this growth.
New Brunswick’s Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour Arlene Dunn emphasized the critical role of immigration in the province’s growth, highlighting the exceeding of targets for nominating international students and support for their permanent resident applications.
The influx of new workers benefits various sectors, including construction, healthcare, transportation, finance, and insurance, where there’s a high demand for talent. Over 40 percent of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce’s new members in the past year were newcomers.
Arlene Dunn, the Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour and the Minister Responsible for Immigration, emphasized the importance of immigration for New Brunswick.
“The province has benefitted from an increase in the number of temporary residents, including international students and workers, in recent years and we hope this trend will continue,” she told CTV News.
Dunn also highlighted that New Brunswick has exceeded its target of nominating 1,300 international students, with over 1,750 students receiving support for their permanent resident applications in 2023.
Economic impact
The infusion of new workers into the labor force has proven beneficial for the Moncton area, addressing the increasing demand across various sectors such as construction, healthcare, transportation, finance, and insurance.
New Brunswick’s finance minister, Ernie Steeves, announced that the province had experienced a stronger-than-anticipated economic recovery for the 2022-23 fiscal year, accompanied by record population growth.
New Brunswick’s strong economic recovery was attributed to this population growth, with an estimated 845,000 people now calling the province home, positively impacting tax revenue and economic health.
Housing concerns
Experts project that if the current rate of population growth continues, Canada’s population will double in just 25 years.
“One of our most pressing issues as a community is housing and meeting housing demands,” said Moncton’s economic development director Kevin Silliker.
Moncton has a 25-year urban plan in place to address this growth, including the construction of 50,000 housing units by 2046.
Silliker viewed the population growth helpful to “grow our community going forward.”
