Immigration essential for Queens and Lunenburg counties

Lunenburg Queens Regional Development Agency Immigration Navigation Officer, Corey Pickens, led the meeting.

“This whole process with meeting with different communities is a way of finding out what does the community think,” he said. “I want to see what the communities are doing about newcomer immigration.”

Pickens is committed to three things.

“We need to create some new approaches, we need to encourage the immigrants that are here and we need to attract more newcomers to help us with our economic development and our lifestyle that we have,” he stated.

The meeting took place in the Thomas Raddall Library Program Room.

Pickens revealed why immigrants choose to come to Nova Scotia.

Some reasons include a promise of a better life, honouring hard work, a chance to re-invent oneself, to provide for a family and for freedom.

One weakness Nova Scotia has towards immigrants is community acceptance, Pickens revealed.

Queens MLA Vicki Conrad believes residents need to build on a community welcoming package as she had not met two immigrants who came from Switzerland nine years ago to her own community until the Feb. 27 meeting.

Pickens also stated reasons why Nova Scotia needs immigrants.

“Out-migration exceeds in-migration,” he said, along with an aging population and labour force shortages.

Statistics show that 259,000 people became Canadian citizens in 2006.

Immigrants are also responsible for two-thirds of Canada’s growth in population.

Statistics also show Canada will be dependent upon immigrants for continued population growth by 2030.

The Feb. 27 meeting wrapped up with Pickens revealing a strategy.

He wants to “create a public, private, community leadership entity with a mandate to direct the immigration agenda for the Lunenburg Queens region to achieve the targeted outcomes.”

He also wants to encourage immigrants living in the area with stronger service and support systems plus create a welcoming community.

Thirdly, Pickens would like to attract immigrants most likely to stay in the area, which will help build “sustainable employment, business professional, cultural, faith or community relationships in Lunenburg Queens.”

For more information visit www.lqrda.ns.ca.