Hi Bill,
It is a mistake to think that increasing population causes an improvement in standard of living. Cause and effect work the other way around. People go where they can earn a better living.
There is an optimal population for any given set of: resources, technology, and organizational culture. Population must rise to an optimal value for full potential to be achieved. But when population goes too high, inequity and poverty become inevitable.
It is no longer possible to think about this issue in provincial terms. The world as a whole is grossly overpopulated… poverty is extreme… and desperate people compete for jobs that the rich and powerful are only too happy to send offshore if it puts an extra buck in their pocket.
Paul Colinvaux published pioneering studies in 1978-81 — but the science has been buried because the logic and evidence do not lead to politically correct conclusions. Anyway, you have my email, so contact me if you are serious.
Cheers,
Brian Sanderson
I am a young Nova Scotian who has recently moved back from 6+ years in Alberta and am now living in a small rural town. I was born and raised in rural Nova Scotia and have pride in the area.
I find your conversation about needing more Nova Scotian’s interesting because of my recent migration back to the province. In my younger years I remember a health community that had industry and viable economy. It was a place where people could start a family and settle down. The situation now is much different. Although it is still a great community, people are moving away and there isn’t a strong industry like in years past.
As a young person moving back to Nova Scotia I have noticed some reasons why young people are leaving or not moving back. I’ll use my experience of moving to Alberta to compare.
When moving out west there were tax incentives to help me get established. I had no money or goods but I had a generous income tax rebate for student loans and the provincial tax was only 5%. This means I could quickly get some money back to pay off my student loan and it was cheaper to buy things to get established.
What are some solutions? The biggest incentive to get people to move back would be a job but secondly would be start up/moving costs. For example, why can’t the government allow a one year grace period for taxable income. I am going to get taxed on my high Alberta income for 2011, while getting a Nova Scotia salary. Is it possible to have a year grace period where I continue to pay tax at the rate I paid in Alberta? This way we have a smoother transition and we’re not penalized for moving.
I’d be happy to discuss rural economic activity or nova scotia migration options at any time.
I am speaking to you from the perspective of a 30 something mother of two and former Maritime Life employee… I am also born and raised in the Halifax area and if I have my choice will not live anywhere else in the world. My family, roots, and hopefully my future are here in this province and I enjoy the green space and hospitable people I encounter day to day.
That being said, however, I’ve paid for education in both the Hospitality industry and the Information Technology field (the latter a $16000 I paid BECAUSE I wanted to work for a company with the reputation Maritime Life had in our community). Since the early part of this decade, I was laid off while pregnant with my first child, employed minimally in my chosen field of IT support between children, have a second son and cannot afford to return to full time work in Information Technology . How can this be? Well the last job I was at (2007) paid barely more than I made when starting my first professional job in 2001 and all my areas of expertise had been outsourced India and the Phillipenes.. so here I was, expected to perform as a ‘trained monkey’ on this side of the ocean, with no need to fund any training, and no raises or paid overtime (dont worry it was still expected given the critical role of an IT support person in keeping a call center running). At the end of it, after 3 years of no raises, constant increasing costs and family obligations, and now an outdated education which I cannot personally justify or afford to renew (with very little prospect for employment significantly better than I could attain otherwise ). I now work part time in the hospitality industry for minimum wage so that I may work when my husband is not working and thus reduce the amount of childcare needed while we white knuckle it through purchases like GROCERIES and our two aging cars which we need to go to work. My husband commutes to TRURO for a decent government job and we are virtually stuck in all other aspects of our life holding on and hoping things dont get worse. We want to have more children and are afraid to, we want to stay and work in this province but who knows how long this will work for us if things decline. I would like to go to school but Im terrified to spend any of our own precious resources to do what …; to be educated as what? and if I were to spend another 10k,20,40K+ for example if I wanted a university degree or career change what does that mean for my family…. I personally cannot take that risk…..
I am a capable, talented , dedicated worker who would love nothing more than to be able to enjoy my young family without this constant fear…. and Im quite sure we are still firmly within the middle class …. im so sad for those with larger university debt and perhaps without benefit of one decent job in the family…. no wonder people leave and do not come back.. the hearts pine for their home but their wallets cannot bear the crunch..
thanks for your views.. I enjoy the read and hope desperately for changes here before its too late…
The younger generation at the beginning of their careers (that I am apart of) care about lifestyle (quality of life). Work does not define them. It is hard for my generation of have this comfortable lifestyle in Nova Scotia because Halifax has ignored intelligent urban planning theories and created a mess of a city resulting in a particularly problematic and disturbing arrangement of commercial and residential areas (e.g., for a great, very recent example see Bedford Commons and its removal of businesses from walking distance in the middle of Bedford). This amazingly stunned and ignorant (even wreckless) city planning, in combination with the difficult economic realities facing this (my) generation, provide many reasons to leave for a more environmentally sustainable, more balanced, healthy lifestyle in better planned cities (e.g., Vancouver). And this departure to other cities is independent of population size, and more related to lifestyle.
Basically, who wants to spend half their life in their car commuting to and from work, shopping and eating at large chain restauarants in Bayers Lake, Dartmouth Crossing and Bedford Commons, and living in the spiritual desert known as Clayton Park where Maritimers go to rot in their boxes (apartments) up on the shelf, only to show themselves to their neighbour when they have to go drive somewhere in the car?
Of course there are exceptions to this obviously embellished picture, but for many this is the reality that the HRM provides.
In other words, my generation wants a healthy community with a health lifestyle; we don’t want the HRM lifestyle.
You are to be commended as I sense that too few Bluenosers care about our great province’s future. In fact, few seem aware of the challenges we face, the recent GST increase is a precursor of more to come unless we bit the bullet. By that I mean recognize our economic shortcomings…. too much government, a stagnant population base as your article illustrates and lack of capital investment.
When gov’t represents 51% of GDP we have a challenge. Most Nova Scotians are unaware that fisheries, argiculture and forestry represent only 3% of our GDP. Yet these sectors receive disproportionate attention and gov’t handouts. Nova Scotia should aim to get the gov’t portion down to the Canadian average as New Brunswick is doing.
I am fearful that Nova Scotians are not ready to accept any significant immigration. A recent example illustrates; our doctor and family immigarted from India and decided to practice in Lunenburg. I recently learned that they had left for Toronto because their children had difficulty being accepted in the community. This is unfortunate. The reality is that few visible minorities will risk moving here when other Canadian urban communities are far more accommodating. I lived in Markham for a while and they proudly boast over 250,000 chinese residents who are major economic contributors to their rapidly growing hitech community.
The best strategy for increased immigration is through tax incentives, especially for foreign university students. We need to keep them here. I am a typical example; a Dal graduate who left for Upper Canada for a decent lob when I graduated only to return home when I retired.
My husband and I have been very fortunate to have enjoyed excellent careers based here in Nova Scotia. We enjoy a great quality of life here, and have been proud to raise two sons, but fear for stability and growth in our province as we have so few opportunities for our youth. We see our children as the bellwether of the future, and are quite confident that they will continue to leave in droves unless we build suitable strategies to retain them.
I am certainly supportive of diversity, and I believe it is essential, but our issues here are not going to be addressed simply by bringing in additional citizens. Our future depends on our children (all of our children) remaining in Nova Scotia. We do not offer adequate employment opportunities to make this possible, and most university graduates I know are working just above minimum wage (if they have been fortunate enough to find a job). As a result, after time, they simply find it is necessary to leave our beautiful area and seek opportunities much further afield. We often discuss this topic with our own children, who question the ongoing discussion about our proposed “imminent skills shortage”.
We need to begin in the beginning:
1) Collaborate with our post secondary institutions to provide a better match between the requirements of employers and educational programs.
2) Offer far more paid internships for University and College graduates.
3) Work with employers to
fund opportunities (such as internships) for recent graduates the same way we do today for summer employment programs for students.There are far, far more positions available for students returning to school than for those who have been successful in completing their degree(s).
4) Work with potential employers to assure the requirements for a certain percentage of entry level positions are general enough to allow the graduates to qualify. We have become a highly specialized world, and the majority of positions are comprised of almost unrealistic requirements.
5) Penalize employers for not hiring a certain percentage of qualified youth (or, shall I take a slightly different slant and suggest we incent employers to hire, train and retain young people). I believe this to be very important as we need to understand how to keep these young people interested and engaged. Many companies and organizations have reduced or eliminated training budgets, and the opportunity for “life long learning” (a term from their parent’s workplace) is almost unheard of in many environments.
Most recently, we offered a tax rebate for graduates who remain in our region, which was a small, but good start. However, if we cannot offer reasonable employment opportunities, and the graduates are living at subsistence levels, this rebate becomes somewhat irrelevant.
The leadership has to come from all citizens but most definitely we need leadership at the government and business level. We need to mandate new strategies to assure we have not built a life for our children, only to have them all move to other provinces just as we all prepare for our retirement. The shrinking tax base that is the result of all of these factors will absolutely create the self fulfilling prophecy of a “backwater community” in the years to come.
I’m 30 years old born and raised in Nova Scotia. I have two sisters. I now have a son and wife. After leaving the province 3 times I have returned to be closer to my aging folks. My wife and I are both professionals. My sister is a doctor. All three of us have struggled to find professional jobs in this province because of the amount of `red tape it takes to get qualified in the province. Both my sisters and I wanted to work in a rural area of Nova Scotia. I have contacted hundreds of employers, politicans, directors of societies and nothing. `No one has plans or answers. The process for getting professional qualifications assessed and the tax rate are making it a ghost town. My sisters have left to practice medicine in the States. My wife and I have a 1 year time line as well here and then we are leaving as well and going to raise our family elsewhere. I wont return here again. I dont think letting immigrants into this province will help anything. i`m sure their are about 300,000 maritimers living elsewhere (like I was) who would love to come back here and settle down if they could work here and have a house and normal life. To fix it, ease the red tape for young workers to get up and working, raise salaries, make the transition from massive student debt to paying off a home easier, overriding heritage socities when they want to make Halifax look like it is 1756. Young people dont want to live with Charles Dickens. To make matter`s worse…these comments have been littered throughout the internet and not one thing has been done about it. We have had a youth reistant culture here in NS for so long now and now it is starting to bite.
Thanks for your perspecitve on this topic Bill. I think it is going to be very difficult to significantly impact birth rates. However, on the other two fronts, with a strategy that is well executed, we can make significant advancement.
Regarding reduced emigration, it’s all about young people. Organizations like Fusion are having a positive impact in this regard. Young people want to be in a city and province that have a vision and leadership. That positive energy creates optimism, which in turn creates opportunity.
We desperately need more diversity. I know first hand that the immigration process is long (years), difficult and expensive. We need an improved strategy if we really weant more immigrants in NS. Of course, not all will stay, but under the right circumstances most will.
Dear Bill, This is the most worthwhile initiative imagineable.It needs to reach into every nook and cranny of the province and needfs a huge PR cmpaign to convince as many people as possible that bringing in large number of immigrant families is the key to a future for NS. We need much more widespread awareness of what immigrants have already done for NS, e.g. Cape Breton coal miners from Belgium, NS dairy farmers from Holland etc. People need the facts and figures, and need to know how they personally would benefit from a huge increase in the NS population. All the best.
Bill,
This article was a fantastic summary of findings that I believe we’ve all known about for some time but the conclusions, being more difficult to stomach, have been largely ignored – until now.
I agree wholeheartedly with Peter’s comments that there needs to be a communal and inspiring voice that speaks up for Nova Scotia and what it must become. We need more than just interest groups and networking groups on the local level. We need the big players – both government and private industry – to take this to heart. Seriously.
Nova Scotia is where I am from, and where I came back to after spending some years away. In returning recently, I can see the deficit of the people we need to have in Nova Scotia much more clearly than before, and frankly, without embracing immigrants, changing policies and most importantly inviting people in (with incentives and open arms), we’re doomed to stay in a decline.
There ARE jobs to be had here, but there is also a massive amount of red tape – especially for young people – to get these jobs. “Who you know” that gets your foot in the door in Toronto is “Who trusts who” down home in Nova Scotia. I know this isn’t always the case, but employers need to step up their offering, too – salary, benefits, perks – to attract and keep the people that will inspire a brighter future in Nova Scotia.
I have been passing your information onto whoever will hear me talk about it, as there is work to be done, and I am pleased to say this is a proactive step in the direction we need to take.
Bill, thank you for your well-considered perspective on the population growth challenge facing Nova Scotia.
The entire region is confronted by the challenges of declining population and the attraction and retention of immigrants to our communities.
I invite you and your subscribers to read and comment on a public policy paper on this important subject recently released by the Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU). http://www.public.atlanticuniversities.ca
There is no question whatsoever that we must increase the population of this province. Economically and politically, we are at risk of becoming a less influential part of Canada, and that must not happen.
Nova Scotia has the potential for a quality of life that is the envy of many parts of the world. The access to open space and reasonable cost of living has, for example, already attracted many families from the UK (and from larger cities like Toronto). We are well-positioned to attract immigrants (from other parts of Canada, or from around the world) if we understand and market that value proposition correctly. I used the word ‘potential’ very intentionally, however, because for many people I’ve spoken with, the quality of life has not been what they expected and hoped to find.
The solutions to population decline require both private sector and government involvement.
Government is, I believe, already doing a lot of the right things. The marketing work done by the Greater Halifax Partnership, NSBI, the provincial government and others has done a good job of attracting attention from other centres, and changing perceptions about the job market here.
From a governmental perspective, in my opinion, the challenge is the messages we send once those people are here. The tone from our provincial and municipal governments needs to be ASPIRATIONAL. When our governments talk to citizens, I find it is often in terms of just ‘getting by’. They seem to say, “We’re not good enough, big enough, or rich enough. We’re only small, and we need to be realistic about what we can and can’t do.” And while it is true that we need fiscal prudence, we also need a vision. We need SOMEONE to stand up and paint a picture of a better, bigger, greater Halifax and Nova Scotia that inspires all its citizens to act .. to engage .. and to invest.
The private sector needs to stop looking to government to do something. The reality is that for many people (especially those who are not originally from here) it is VERY difficult to find meaningful employment here. Companies in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are not just hiring friends of friends. They’re hiring the best. They’re not only hiring those with ‘3-5 years experience’, and they’re not making new grads ‘pay their dues’ before giving them real responsibility. They’re not looking to government to train or develop their new hires – they are hiring for talent and developing that talent in-house. THAT is the opportunity that must be offered in the local job market if we are to compete with other cities for new grads, young talent, and the families we need to grow our population.
Peter thanks for this comment . I heartily agree with much of what you say, including the need for attracting to be led by business and other employers , supported by government.
But I am not sure you are right about jobs. Toronto has a higher unemployment rate than Halifax, and has for some time. But the immigrants keep arriving in large numbers.
It is troubling to see a discussion on population here in Nova Scotia started outside of Pier 21. It implys that somehow one or more ad hoc government programs such as targeted immigration, trade shows out West or as mentioned above targeting foreign students to remain will solve this problem. There is a simple reason why people do not stay or come, lack of prosperity. Nova Scotia is a small, poor province with no economic prospects. To live in Nova Scotia you have to be prepared to earn less, have less prospects, contend with average to poor services, pay higher living costs as well as pay the near highest or highest sales tax (soon to go up), income taxes and municipal taxes in Canada. Unless we are willing to tackle these problems and make Nova Scotia a thriving, prosperous and wealth-creating region in North America there is nothing we can do to stop our population decline. And it is typical of the status-quo outlook that ‘baby-step’ actions by government will make an impact. For example, Nova Scotia currently has a very extensive immigration attraction program, but even if it was firing on all pistons it still would only make up less than a quarter of the people we need to stop decline. And yet most immigrants pack up and leave after five years, and in exit interviews they say that there is no opportunity so why should they stay? In fact unless the root problem of prosperity is addressed, why should anybody stay in Nova Scotia?
Jonathan you have a very pessimistic outlook. When Manitoba embarked on their ambitious and well considered program they did not have more going for them than Nova Scotia has today. Their success in immigration was a cause of subsequent economic success , not a result.
Bill, this issue needs to addressed. I personally know of a woman from South Africa whose family emigrated in the 90’s and are now contributing to society. She has been declined and is fearful of returning to South Africa. There seems irony in this case. We need a system with less red tape and constraints. Thank you.
As a middle class working senior who hopes to be able to spend my remaining years here in Nova Scotia in at least a modicum fo comfort as well being at the same time the father of a twenty-four year old son who I think hopes to make his life and build his family in Nova Scotia I agree that you are raising a vitally important matter. Yes we do need more Nova Scotians.
What you are saying in this paper makes great sense to me and should be in the minds of all of us.
So, In answer to question 1: strongly agree.
Question 2–I don’t know if there are other strategies–but the course of action and the Manitoba example you mention seem to me to be a very good model to follow.
Question 3 is a difficult one, perhaps the most of those you ask. It forces us to confront prejeudices and fears–especially fears stemming from 9-11. I have to admit those fears are in my mind to when I think of this general subject. But yes, I welcome diversity in HRM and even in Waverley where I live.
Leadership can’t just come from government–though government has a role to play–mostly I think as a coach and educator and facilitator–businesses, churches, service clubs, NGOs- all have roles to play.
Question 5 yes and yes.
But I also agree strongly with your comments on the need to take new and strogner steps to ensure opportunities for success for our own young people here in N.S.
To conclude, this paper is an excellent contribution to the planning for the future of N.S.–and should be mandatory reading for all Nova Scotians. It’s a first rate contribution to public discourse.
One idea that should be explored is how we can retain foreign students who come to Nova Scotia to be educated in our universities. There are well-over 4,000 such students currently studying in our universities who will spend several years in our province being educated, who will become acclimatized to the communities in which they study and will receive a Canadian education. Perhaps we could fast track these individuals to become Canadian citizens by ensuring they receive landed status upon graduation and allowing them immediately to seek employment. Part of the process could include determining the interest of foreign students in becoming Canadian citizens when they register for their programs.
A second idea to keep new Canadian graduates from coll;eges and universitiess in Nova Scotia, regardless of where they reside,in the province after graduation by providng them with a training bursary to take with them to their first job. This would parallel the program the province has to provide assistance to new companies like RIM to establish new jobs in Nova Scotia. The challenge for new graduates is to get their foot into the job market without any real experience. This bursary program would alleviate that problem for employers to such degree.
This is a very critical topic and one that no one at the provincial government level seems to show any interest in. Even worse is the lack of action at the Municipal level. Just drive rural NS and you’ll see all kinds of signs that population has declined. Apparently Colchester County has done things on their own by going to Ireland and Scotland to look for people interested in farming and have had some luck.
This is another prime example that the provincial bureaucracy is very much asleep , and seems to think that so long as Halifax is happy, why bother. Well, you need your taxpayer base to be improving and the NS taxpayer base is fading away. Municipalities are also asleep as they are not watching their property tax base change ;They have fewer commercial assessed businesses in many cases and nothing to replace them. The Tourism people are telling us that tourism is up yet they cancelled the ferry to the USA and now we hear they are downgrading the Keltic Lodge; two decisions that are going in the opposite direction from what they predicted. There are very serious consequences here in the respective rural economics which then lead to a population shift. Wish we knew who was in charge of our “economic” plan for this province . Dexternomics are starting to look rather scary.
Hi Bill,
It is a mistake to think that increasing population causes an improvement in standard of living. Cause and effect work the other way around. People go where they can earn a better living.
There is an optimal population for any given set of: resources, technology, and organizational culture. Population must rise to an optimal value for full potential to be achieved. But when population goes too high, inequity and poverty become inevitable.
It is no longer possible to think about this issue in provincial terms. The world as a whole is grossly overpopulated… poverty is extreme… and desperate people compete for jobs that the rich and powerful are only too happy to send offshore if it puts an extra buck in their pocket.
Paul Colinvaux published pioneering studies in 1978-81 — but the science has been buried because the logic and evidence do not lead to politically correct conclusions. Anyway, you have my email, so contact me if you are serious.
Cheers,
Brian Sanderson
Brian Sanderson | July 15, 2012 |
Bill,
I am a young Nova Scotian who has recently moved back from 6+ years in Alberta and am now living in a small rural town. I was born and raised in rural Nova Scotia and have pride in the area.
I find your conversation about needing more Nova Scotian’s interesting because of my recent migration back to the province. In my younger years I remember a health community that had industry and viable economy. It was a place where people could start a family and settle down. The situation now is much different. Although it is still a great community, people are moving away and there isn’t a strong industry like in years past.
As a young person moving back to Nova Scotia I have noticed some reasons why young people are leaving or not moving back. I’ll use my experience of moving to Alberta to compare.
When moving out west there were tax incentives to help me get established. I had no money or goods but I had a generous income tax rebate for student loans and the provincial tax was only 5%. This means I could quickly get some money back to pay off my student loan and it was cheaper to buy things to get established.
What are some solutions? The biggest incentive to get people to move back would be a job but secondly would be start up/moving costs. For example, why can’t the government allow a one year grace period for taxable income. I am going to get taxed on my high Alberta income for 2011, while getting a Nova Scotia salary. Is it possible to have a year grace period where I continue to pay tax at the rate I paid in Alberta? This way we have a smoother transition and we’re not penalized for moving.
I’d be happy to discuss rural economic activity or nova scotia migration options at any time.
Thanks!
Dave | December 12, 2011 |
Dave thanks for this valuable contribution. We need to examine every possible way to grow numbers, especially in rural Nova Scotia.
Bill
Bill | December 12, 2011 |
Hi Bill,
I am speaking to you from the perspective of a 30 something mother of two and former Maritime Life employee… I am also born and raised in the Halifax area and if I have my choice will not live anywhere else in the world. My family, roots, and hopefully my future are here in this province and I enjoy the green space and hospitable people I encounter day to day.
That being said, however, I’ve paid for education in both the Hospitality industry and the Information Technology field (the latter a $16000 I paid BECAUSE I wanted to work for a company with the reputation Maritime Life had in our community). Since the early part of this decade, I was laid off while pregnant with my first child, employed minimally in my chosen field of IT support between children, have a second son and cannot afford to return to full time work in Information Technology . How can this be? Well the last job I was at (2007) paid barely more than I made when starting my first professional job in 2001 and all my areas of expertise had been outsourced India and the Phillipenes.. so here I was, expected to perform as a ‘trained monkey’ on this side of the ocean, with no need to fund any training, and no raises or paid overtime (dont worry it was still expected given the critical role of an IT support person in keeping a call center running). At the end of it, after 3 years of no raises, constant increasing costs and family obligations, and now an outdated education which I cannot personally justify or afford to renew (with very little prospect for employment significantly better than I could attain otherwise ). I now work part time in the hospitality industry for minimum wage so that I may work when my husband is not working and thus reduce the amount of childcare needed while we white knuckle it through purchases like GROCERIES and our two aging cars which we need to go to work. My husband commutes to TRURO for a decent government job and we are virtually stuck in all other aspects of our life holding on and hoping things dont get worse. We want to have more children and are afraid to, we want to stay and work in this province but who knows how long this will work for us if things decline. I would like to go to school but Im terrified to spend any of our own precious resources to do what …; to be educated as what? and if I were to spend another 10k,20,40K+ for example if I wanted a university degree or career change what does that mean for my family…. I personally cannot take that risk…..
I am a capable, talented , dedicated worker who would love nothing more than to be able to enjoy my young family without this constant fear…. and Im quite sure we are still firmly within the middle class …. im so sad for those with larger university debt and perhaps without benefit of one decent job in the family…. no wonder people leave and do not come back.. the hearts pine for their home but their wallets cannot bear the crunch..
thanks for your views.. I enjoy the read and hope desperately for changes here before its too late…
SHANNON | September 18, 2011 |
The younger generation at the beginning of their careers (that I am apart of) care about lifestyle (quality of life). Work does not define them. It is hard for my generation of have this comfortable lifestyle in Nova Scotia because Halifax has ignored intelligent urban planning theories and created a mess of a city resulting in a particularly problematic and disturbing arrangement of commercial and residential areas (e.g., for a great, very recent example see Bedford Commons and its removal of businesses from walking distance in the middle of Bedford). This amazingly stunned and ignorant (even wreckless) city planning, in combination with the difficult economic realities facing this (my) generation, provide many reasons to leave for a more environmentally sustainable, more balanced, healthy lifestyle in better planned cities (e.g., Vancouver). And this departure to other cities is independent of population size, and more related to lifestyle.
Basically, who wants to spend half their life in their car commuting to and from work, shopping and eating at large chain restauarants in Bayers Lake, Dartmouth Crossing and Bedford Commons, and living in the spiritual desert known as Clayton Park where Maritimers go to rot in their boxes (apartments) up on the shelf, only to show themselves to their neighbour when they have to go drive somewhere in the car?
Of course there are exceptions to this obviously embellished picture, but for many this is the reality that the HRM provides.
In other words, my generation wants a healthy community with a health lifestyle; we don’t want the HRM lifestyle.
Jonathan Hall | August 1, 2010 |
Hi Bill
Michael M. alerted me to your blog.
You are to be commended as I sense that too few Bluenosers care about our great province’s future. In fact, few seem aware of the challenges we face, the recent GST increase is a precursor of more to come unless we bit the bullet. By that I mean recognize our economic shortcomings…. too much government, a stagnant population base as your article illustrates and lack of capital investment.
When gov’t represents 51% of GDP we have a challenge. Most Nova Scotians are unaware that fisheries, argiculture and forestry represent only 3% of our GDP. Yet these sectors receive disproportionate attention and gov’t handouts. Nova Scotia should aim to get the gov’t portion down to the Canadian average as New Brunswick is doing.
I am fearful that Nova Scotians are not ready to accept any significant immigration. A recent example illustrates; our doctor and family immigarted from India and decided to practice in Lunenburg. I recently learned that they had left for Toronto because their children had difficulty being accepted in the community. This is unfortunate. The reality is that few visible minorities will risk moving here when other Canadian urban communities are far more accommodating. I lived in Markham for a while and they proudly boast over 250,000 chinese residents who are major economic contributors to their rapidly growing hitech community.
The best strategy for increased immigration is through tax incentives, especially for foreign university students. We need to keep them here. I am a typical example; a Dal graduate who left for Upper Canada for a decent lob when I graduated only to return home when I retired.
Doug Langley
Douglas Langley | July 8, 2010 |
My husband and I have been very fortunate to have enjoyed excellent careers based here in Nova Scotia. We enjoy a great quality of life here, and have been proud to raise two sons, but fear for stability and growth in our province as we have so few opportunities for our youth. We see our children as the bellwether of the future, and are quite confident that they will continue to leave in droves unless we build suitable strategies to retain them.
I am certainly supportive of diversity, and I believe it is essential, but our issues here are not going to be addressed simply by bringing in additional citizens. Our future depends on our children (all of our children) remaining in Nova Scotia. We do not offer adequate employment opportunities to make this possible, and most university graduates I know are working just above minimum wage (if they have been fortunate enough to find a job). As a result, after time, they simply find it is necessary to leave our beautiful area and seek opportunities much further afield. We often discuss this topic with our own children, who question the ongoing discussion about our proposed “imminent skills shortage”.
We need to begin in the beginning:
1) Collaborate with our post secondary institutions to provide a better match between the requirements of employers and educational programs.
2) Offer far more paid internships for University and College graduates.
3) Work with employers to
fund opportunities (such as internships) for recent graduates the same way we do today for summer employment programs for students.There are far, far more positions available for students returning to school than for those who have been successful in completing their degree(s).
4) Work with potential employers to assure the requirements for a certain percentage of entry level positions are general enough to allow the graduates to qualify. We have become a highly specialized world, and the majority of positions are comprised of almost unrealistic requirements.
5) Penalize employers for not hiring a certain percentage of qualified youth (or, shall I take a slightly different slant and suggest we incent employers to hire, train and retain young people). I believe this to be very important as we need to understand how to keep these young people interested and engaged. Many companies and organizations have reduced or eliminated training budgets, and the opportunity for “life long learning” (a term from their parent’s workplace) is almost unheard of in many environments.
Most recently, we offered a tax rebate for graduates who remain in our region, which was a small, but good start. However, if we cannot offer reasonable employment opportunities, and the graduates are living at subsistence levels, this rebate becomes somewhat irrelevant.
The leadership has to come from all citizens but most definitely we need leadership at the government and business level. We need to mandate new strategies to assure we have not built a life for our children, only to have them all move to other provinces just as we all prepare for our retirement. The shrinking tax base that is the result of all of these factors will absolutely create the self fulfilling prophecy of a “backwater community” in the years to come.
Mary McDaid | April 11, 2010 |
I’m 30 years old born and raised in Nova Scotia. I have two sisters. I now have a son and wife. After leaving the province 3 times I have returned to be closer to my aging folks. My wife and I are both professionals. My sister is a doctor. All three of us have struggled to find professional jobs in this province because of the amount of `red tape it takes to get qualified in the province. Both my sisters and I wanted to work in a rural area of Nova Scotia. I have contacted hundreds of employers, politicans, directors of societies and nothing. `No one has plans or answers. The process for getting professional qualifications assessed and the tax rate are making it a ghost town. My sisters have left to practice medicine in the States. My wife and I have a 1 year time line as well here and then we are leaving as well and going to raise our family elsewhere. I wont return here again. I dont think letting immigrants into this province will help anything. i`m sure their are about 300,000 maritimers living elsewhere (like I was) who would love to come back here and settle down if they could work here and have a house and normal life. To fix it, ease the red tape for young workers to get up and working, raise salaries, make the transition from massive student debt to paying off a home easier, overriding heritage socities when they want to make Halifax look like it is 1756. Young people dont want to live with Charles Dickens. To make matter`s worse…these comments have been littered throughout the internet and not one thing has been done about it. We have had a youth reistant culture here in NS for so long now and now it is starting to bite.
Mike M | March 29, 2010 |
Thanks for your perspecitve on this topic Bill. I think it is going to be very difficult to significantly impact birth rates. However, on the other two fronts, with a strategy that is well executed, we can make significant advancement.
Regarding reduced emigration, it’s all about young people. Organizations like Fusion are having a positive impact in this regard. Young people want to be in a city and province that have a vision and leadership. That positive energy creates optimism, which in turn creates opportunity.
We desperately need more diversity. I know first hand that the immigration process is long (years), difficult and expensive. We need an improved strategy if we really weant more immigrants in NS. Of course, not all will stay, but under the right circumstances most will.
Thanks.
Jim Mills | March 22, 2010 |
Dear Bill, This is the most worthwhile initiative imagineable.It needs to reach into every nook and cranny of the province and needfs a huge PR cmpaign to convince as many people as possible that bringing in large number of immigrant families is the key to a future for NS. We need much more widespread awareness of what immigrants have already done for NS, e.g. Cape Breton coal miners from Belgium, NS dairy farmers from Holland etc. People need the facts and figures, and need to know how they personally would benefit from a huge increase in the NS population. All the best.
Richard B Goldbloom | March 19, 2010 |
Thanks Dick
Bill | March 19, 2010 |
Bill,
This article was a fantastic summary of findings that I believe we’ve all known about for some time but the conclusions, being more difficult to stomach, have been largely ignored – until now.
I agree wholeheartedly with Peter’s comments that there needs to be a communal and inspiring voice that speaks up for Nova Scotia and what it must become. We need more than just interest groups and networking groups on the local level. We need the big players – both government and private industry – to take this to heart. Seriously.
Nova Scotia is where I am from, and where I came back to after spending some years away. In returning recently, I can see the deficit of the people we need to have in Nova Scotia much more clearly than before, and frankly, without embracing immigrants, changing policies and most importantly inviting people in (with incentives and open arms), we’re doomed to stay in a decline.
There ARE jobs to be had here, but there is also a massive amount of red tape – especially for young people – to get these jobs. “Who you know” that gets your foot in the door in Toronto is “Who trusts who” down home in Nova Scotia. I know this isn’t always the case, but employers need to step up their offering, too – salary, benefits, perks – to attract and keep the people that will inspire a brighter future in Nova Scotia.
I have been passing your information onto whoever will hear me talk about it, as there is work to be done, and I am pleased to say this is a proactive step in the direction we need to take.
Kimberley Mosher | March 18, 2010 |
Thanks Kimberly. It is nice to hear from others who perceive this as a slow burning but very large time bomb.
Bill
Bill | March 18, 2010 |
Bill, thank you for your well-considered perspective on the population growth challenge facing Nova Scotia.
The entire region is confronted by the challenges of declining population and the attraction and retention of immigrants to our communities.
I invite you and your subscribers to read and comment on a public policy paper on this important subject recently released by the Association of Atlantic Universities (AAU).
http://www.public.atlanticuniversities.ca
The en
Peter Halpin | March 18, 2010 |
There is no question whatsoever that we must increase the population of this province. Economically and politically, we are at risk of becoming a less influential part of Canada, and that must not happen.
Nova Scotia has the potential for a quality of life that is the envy of many parts of the world. The access to open space and reasonable cost of living has, for example, already attracted many families from the UK (and from larger cities like Toronto). We are well-positioned to attract immigrants (from other parts of Canada, or from around the world) if we understand and market that value proposition correctly. I used the word ‘potential’ very intentionally, however, because for many people I’ve spoken with, the quality of life has not been what they expected and hoped to find.
The solutions to population decline require both private sector and government involvement.
Government is, I believe, already doing a lot of the right things. The marketing work done by the Greater Halifax Partnership, NSBI, the provincial government and others has done a good job of attracting attention from other centres, and changing perceptions about the job market here.
From a governmental perspective, in my opinion, the challenge is the messages we send once those people are here. The tone from our provincial and municipal governments needs to be ASPIRATIONAL. When our governments talk to citizens, I find it is often in terms of just ‘getting by’. They seem to say, “We’re not good enough, big enough, or rich enough. We’re only small, and we need to be realistic about what we can and can’t do.” And while it is true that we need fiscal prudence, we also need a vision. We need SOMEONE to stand up and paint a picture of a better, bigger, greater Halifax and Nova Scotia that inspires all its citizens to act .. to engage .. and to invest.
The private sector needs to stop looking to government to do something. The reality is that for many people (especially those who are not originally from here) it is VERY difficult to find meaningful employment here. Companies in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are not just hiring friends of friends. They’re hiring the best. They’re not only hiring those with ‘3-5 years experience’, and they’re not making new grads ‘pay their dues’ before giving them real responsibility. They’re not looking to government to train or develop their new hires – they are hiring for talent and developing that talent in-house. THAT is the opportunity that must be offered in the local job market if we are to compete with other cities for new grads, young talent, and the families we need to grow our population.
Peter Moorhouse | March 18, 2010 |
Peter thanks for this comment . I heartily agree with much of what you say, including the need for attracting to be led by business and other employers , supported by government.
But I am not sure you are right about jobs. Toronto has a higher unemployment rate than Halifax, and has for some time. But the immigrants keep arriving in large numbers.
Bill
Bill | March 18, 2010 |
It is troubling to see a discussion on population here in Nova Scotia started outside of Pier 21. It implys that somehow one or more ad hoc government programs such as targeted immigration, trade shows out West or as mentioned above targeting foreign students to remain will solve this problem. There is a simple reason why people do not stay or come, lack of prosperity. Nova Scotia is a small, poor province with no economic prospects. To live in Nova Scotia you have to be prepared to earn less, have less prospects, contend with average to poor services, pay higher living costs as well as pay the near highest or highest sales tax (soon to go up), income taxes and municipal taxes in Canada. Unless we are willing to tackle these problems and make Nova Scotia a thriving, prosperous and wealth-creating region in North America there is nothing we can do to stop our population decline. And it is typical of the status-quo outlook that ‘baby-step’ actions by government will make an impact. For example, Nova Scotia currently has a very extensive immigration attraction program, but even if it was firing on all pistons it still would only make up less than a quarter of the people we need to stop decline. And yet most immigrants pack up and leave after five years, and in exit interviews they say that there is no opportunity so why should they stay? In fact unless the root problem of prosperity is addressed, why should anybody stay in Nova Scotia?
Jonathan Dean
Atlantica Party
Jonathan Dean | March 18, 2010 |
Jonathan you have a very pessimistic outlook. When Manitoba embarked on their ambitious and well considered program they did not have more going for them than Nova Scotia has today. Their success in immigration was a cause of subsequent economic success , not a result.
Bill
Bill | March 18, 2010 |
Bill, this issue needs to addressed. I personally know of a woman from South Africa whose family emigrated in the 90’s and are now contributing to society. She has been declined and is fearful of returning to South Africa. There seems irony in this case. We need a system with less red tape and constraints. Thank you.
John Guthro | March 17, 2010 |
Bill:
As a middle class working senior who hopes to be able to spend my remaining years here in Nova Scotia in at least a modicum fo comfort as well being at the same time the father of a twenty-four year old son who I think hopes to make his life and build his family in Nova Scotia I agree that you are raising a vitally important matter. Yes we do need more Nova Scotians.
What you are saying in this paper makes great sense to me and should be in the minds of all of us.
So, In answer to question 1: strongly agree.
Question 2–I don’t know if there are other strategies–but the course of action and the Manitoba example you mention seem to me to be a very good model to follow.
Question 3 is a difficult one, perhaps the most of those you ask. It forces us to confront prejeudices and fears–especially fears stemming from 9-11. I have to admit those fears are in my mind to when I think of this general subject. But yes, I welcome diversity in HRM and even in Waverley where I live.
Leadership can’t just come from government–though government has a role to play–mostly I think as a coach and educator and facilitator–businesses, churches, service clubs, NGOs- all have roles to play.
Question 5 yes and yes.
But I also agree strongly with your comments on the need to take new and strogner steps to ensure opportunities for success for our own young people here in N.S.
To conclude, this paper is an excellent contribution to the planning for the future of N.S.–and should be mandatory reading for all Nova Scotians. It’s a first rate contribution to public discourse.
Rob Smith
Waverley
Rob Smith | March 17, 2010 |
One idea that should be explored is how we can retain foreign students who come to Nova Scotia to be educated in our universities. There are well-over 4,000 such students currently studying in our universities who will spend several years in our province being educated, who will become acclimatized to the communities in which they study and will receive a Canadian education. Perhaps we could fast track these individuals to become Canadian citizens by ensuring they receive landed status upon graduation and allowing them immediately to seek employment. Part of the process could include determining the interest of foreign students in becoming Canadian citizens when they register for their programs.
A second idea to keep new Canadian graduates from coll;eges and universitiess in Nova Scotia, regardless of where they reside,in the province after graduation by providng them with a training bursary to take with them to their first job. This would parallel the program the province has to provide assistance to new companies like RIM to establish new jobs in Nova Scotia. The challenge for new graduates is to get their foot into the job market without any real experience. This bursary program would alleviate that problem for employers to such degree.
Don Mills | March 17, 2010 |
This is a very critical topic and one that no one at the provincial government level seems to show any interest in. Even worse is the lack of action at the Municipal level. Just drive rural NS and you’ll see all kinds of signs that population has declined. Apparently Colchester County has done things on their own by going to Ireland and Scotland to look for people interested in farming and have had some luck.
This is another prime example that the provincial bureaucracy is very much asleep , and seems to think that so long as Halifax is happy, why bother. Well, you need your taxpayer base to be improving and the NS taxpayer base is fading away. Municipalities are also asleep as they are not watching their property tax base change ;They have fewer commercial assessed businesses in many cases and nothing to replace them. The Tourism people are telling us that tourism is up yet they cancelled the ferry to the USA and now we hear they are downgrading the Keltic Lodge; two decisions that are going in the opposite direction from what they predicted. There are very serious consequences here in the respective rural economics which then lead to a population shift. Wish we knew who was in charge of our “economic” plan for this province . Dexternomics are starting to look rather scary.
PS | March 17, 2010 |