Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - December 2009
A new report is highlighting the economic struggles facing Canada’s Maritime Provinces in the years to come if nothing more is done to offset their aging population.
“Without large future increases in output per working-age person in the Atlantic provinces, a shrinking workforce -- which may be the case as soon as 2010 -- will dampen future economic growth," says the report, which was compiled by the C.D. Howe Institute.
The report is called Stress Test: Demographic Pressures and Policy Options in Atlantic Canada, and warns that higher immigration rates are necessary if the region wants to avoid economic hardships.
However, the Maritime Provinces, though attractive to tourists, are not a top destination for neither new arrivals to Canada, nor for many of their own natives who often emigrate West in search of more opportunity.
Experts in the Atlantic region are trying to determine the causes of this trend so as to find effective solutions. Some argue that one main deterrent is a lack of large urban centres and, instead, higher tendencies toward rural communities. In the Maritimes, 8.3 percent of the population live in rural areas, versus an average of 2.6 percent in other provinces.
Yet, there is evidence that the region could make progress in their efforts to attract immigrants, as is illustrated by recent events in Prince Edward Island. The province of PEI has embarked on an aggressive, revamped immigrant recruitment campaign and early data shows that these efforts are starting to pay off.
Furthermore, the report offers several other suggestions for the region to cope with the aging population, including health program funding, and education and skills training.
Source: Financial Post
