Some ex-pats hearing call to return home

Move over Alberta, because Nova Scotia is better than ever and the province wants its Maritimer’s back.

Dec. 19 saw the launch of Nova Scotia’s new marketing campaign that targets Nova Scotian’s living in Calgary to come back home.

The “Come to Life� initiative will have newspaper ads and billboards placed throughout Calgary with slogans such as: “Buy a home or two; Get ahead, come back.� or “Calgary is a nice place to visit.�

“Nova Scotia is prospering and we want all Nova Scotians to be a part of that prosperity,� Premier Rodney MacDonald said.

The province is continuing to gain new companies that will call Nova Scotia home and the province has announced that Butterfield, Citco and Olympia Captial will create about 1,000 new jobs with an industry average of roughly $65,000.

Natalie Hutzulak, who is originally from Liverpool, has lived in Calgary for the past eight years.

She and her husband decided to move out west because her husband is a tradesman in the construction industry, and at the time it was difficult to make a living, Hutzulak explained in an email.

After hearing about the “Come to Life� initiative, Hutzulak believes there has to be more incentives for the “average Joe� to be convinced to return to Nova Scotia.

Slogans on billboards and in newspapers will reinforce that a more affordable place to live would be Nova Scotia.

In November 2006, the average cost of a Nova Scotian home was $162,500, while homes in Calgary cost $360,622, the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a press release.

A study conducted by Statistics Canada also shows that Nova Scotia’s cost of living in more economical than in Alberta.

“Nova Scotia now offers the opportunities that our friends and relatives may have sought elsewhere,� said MacDonald. “Take the information technology industry, for example. RIM, maker of the Blackberry, is setting up shop here, creating about one high-paying job a day for the next five years.�

Hutzulak and her husband plan to return home to Nova Scotia to simplify their lives.

She says Calgary is becoming extremely busy and to accommodate their lifestyle, they want to move to an area that is more affordable to make optimum use of their time, which is to work less and be close to family members again.

The “Come to Life� initiative was also launched in Boston. The province hopes to attract new businesses that will continue growth in Nova Scotia.

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ldelong@theadvance.ca