NOVA SCOTIA - Approximately 4,000 new residents now call Nova Scotia home, thanks to a record number of immigrants who came through the province’s Provincial Nominee Program.
According to a press release, the government nominated more than 1,400 immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program and nearly 200 newcomers, and their families, through the Atlantic Immigration Pilot.
“2017 was another successful year for immigration in Nova Scotia,” Provincial Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said in a press release. “Helping newcomers immigrate and build lives here in Nova Scotia is a priority for the department and its settlement partners. It is key to growing the province and its economy.”
The Atlantic Immigration Pilot is a new partnership between the four Atlantic provinces and the Government of Canada to help businesses attract and retain skilled newcomers to fill labour gaps.
The Nova Scotia Office of Immigration also joined the Nova Scotia Health Authority at an international job fair in the United Kingdom to help recruit international physicians to work and live in Nova Scotia, the press release said.
“It has been an extraordinarily busy and rewarding year for the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS),” Gerry Mills, ISANS executive director said. “We have served more clients this year than ever before and we look forward to serving more clients in 2018 and working with our partners on the Atlantic Immigration Pilot.”
There was also a shift in Nova Scotians’ attitudes toward immigration in 2017, the press release said.
Surveys indicate most Nova Scotians believe immigrants make Nova Scotia a more interesting place and that immigration is key to growing our province.
Recent research shows that 85 per cent of Nova Scotians surveyed believe immigration has a positive impact on the province, compared to 36 per cent in 2016.