A Tale Of Two Government Programs

Posted March 3, 2017

In early February, there were two strikingly different news reports about the economy of Southwestern Nova Scotia.

The first was a CBC report on Riverside Lobster International, a seafood processor in Meteghan.

The plant employs 300 people processing 27,000 kilograms a day of fresh and frozen lobster, paying about $13 per hour plus benefits, including a defined contribution pension plan. They operate five buses a day to bring in workers from Yarmouth and Digby. They use the most efficient equipment available, but are chronically short between 20 to 30 workers.

CEO David Deveau says they would add 100 workers if they could find them, allowing them to innovate and expand their product range.

They have never had a payroll rebate from NSBI to support their growth, but they are getting a different kind of government help.

Unlike the previous Conservative government, the federal Liberals have recognized that reversing population decline is crucial to the viability of the Atlantic provinces.

In Nova Scotia’s case, that has meant increasing the limit on provincial nominees for immigration to 1,350 individuals, each of whom can bring along immediate family members. Together with the influx of Syrian refugees, this resulted in a record year for immigration to Nova Scotia—5,000 arrived during the first nine months.

We need still more. In support of employers like Riverside, the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program will allow up to 800 additional immigrants, plus families.

The program is employer-driven. An employer seeks designation from the province by demonstrating that the jobs cannot be filled locally, and that they have a plan to support the integration of the immigrant family.

The immigrants can be temporary foreign workers already in Canada, or other qualified workers that the employer has been able to identify and is willing to hire.

They may be skilled or semi-skilled—the 35 employers so far engaged are in seafood processing, hospitality, and information and communications technologies.

The benefit is not just for the immigrants and their employers. The new families in rural communities add vitality. Their children may make the difference for a school threatened by declining enrolment. This program costs taxpayers nothing beyond the cost of administration.

In a separate story, around the same time, Mayor Pam Mood told the Chronicle Herald that the renewal of the ferry service caused a “complete turnaround” for tourism and the economic well-being of Yarmouth. She went on to say that the Liberals see the importance of the ferry in getting the province “back on its feet.”

Neither statement fits with the facts.

The province had a terrific year for tourism in 2016. Through October, visits were up 8%. For the full year, the total number of visitors was 2.2 million. Of these, 14,000 came via the ferry. For every visitor arriving by ferry, more than 150 others will have arrived by other means. The impact of the ferry on the province as a whole is negligible.

Visits by Americans grew by 14% to 221,600. More than 93% of them came by means other than the ferry. They and others headed to Cape Breton in droves, increasing room nights sold there by 16%.

It is true that the Ferry has had some impact on the Yarmouth and Acadian Shores area. Room nights there are up by about 12,000 over the years when the ferry was not operating. That is a little more than 100 per day for the period that the ferry operated.

The ferry travels to Maine in the morning, returning in the afternoon. Many of those extra room nights were Nova Scotians going south. Your tax dollars are being used to subsidize New England tourism.

No doubt the ferry increased employment at hotels and restaurants. But two or three dozen low wage jobs for three and a half months does not provide a foundation for economic resurgence in Yarmouth, nor does it justify an annual subsidy of $14 million.

But what is especially strange is that we are spending that money while, at the same time, Riverside Lobster is importing workers from Mexico and Chile to year-round jobs. How can that make sense?

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  • Hi Bill,
    Read your piece in today’s paper. As a year round business that operates like a small village on our own, White Point continues to be challenged to find staffing to fill our jobs. Annually we are posting growth and turning away business, year-round due to lack of human resources to satisfy demand is an unanticipated reality for us.

    As an independent operation, over the last 25 years and on the eve of our 90th anniversary, we have worked to build a year-round destination with more than 160 employees. Our impact on the local economy directly through payroll, purchases, and sales channels for artists and experience providers is only shadowed by the spending of the nearly 48,000 guests we welcome 365 days a year.

    Developing, marketing and converting more business outside of the 8wks of summer is the only way the ‘tourism’ sector can effectively contribute to attaining $4B by 2024 goal as set forth One Nova Scotia. In doing so, we also strengthen full time, year round jobs – but then we can’t find people to fill the jobs… an unimaginable conundrum. Filling ferries, airplanes and vehicles as modes to access us, year round exists.

    Armed with 61 jobs available, after years of traditional means to ‘advertise’ jobs, we turned to social media to assist in generating applications. Our Feb 25 announcement with a picture listing the jobs netted us a couple dozen applications – a far cry from the 61 needed.

    Businesses on the South Shore are actively ‘stealing’ employees from each other with teasing of small increases in wages. Our pool of potential employees is in need of an infusion of potential employees – from outside the South Shore, and it’s can’t be simply from other areas of Nova Scotia as other like us share our challenge. We need a ‘people transfusion’ from other parts of Canada, and beyond.

    Out of frustration in hearing the challenges of or Engineering Team in not being able to find a Propane Tech to hire, our Chef unable to find Pastry or Line Cooks, to our F & B Manager unable to find hosts, guest services, bar and wait staff – and then hearing the same challenges expressed by Emily Turpin at Boxing Rock Brewery, Barry Tomalin at Jaspro Services – I kicked off a small effort in hopes it will at least raise awareness and generate some applications in the creation of a *WANTED* Campaign.

    In the spirit of what I call co-opitition, cooperating with our competitors to work towards a common goal, in this case – grow the pool of possible applicants and attract new people to the south shore to live, play and work.

    Not expecting miracles, but to do nothing is not an option. The 13 companies, organizations and even one municipality accepted my invitation to send along the jobs they had to add to our 61, the resulting list of more than 180 clearly demonstrates a need, with fingers and toes crossed, I’m hoping we’ll see positive results.

    Success will come with more challenges in rural NS, I’m now turning attention to affordable housing for employees.

    Here’s the story I released yesterday in hopes of shedding some light on the opportunities…
    http://www.whitepoint.com/blog/2017/03/03/wanted-south-shore-businesses-search-for-more-than-180-employees/

    Oh my, I apologize for my lengthy note – thanks for letting me get it off my chest 🙂
    I love Nova Scotia, and love sharing it with guests and Nova Scotians, and positively contributing to the economy in our small way here at the beach at White Point Beach Resort,

    Donna Hatt | March 9, 2017

  • This whole “cruise ship” tourism is another “red herring” part of the tourism economy . It also shows how all levels of government are really not making good business decisions and even worse tourism “investments” . It also shows where the so called “NS tourism corporation” is not really acting as a “business” as there is really no in depth financial analysis annual statements to show the whole picture . In any business, you look for the “highest and best” price point and profit generator and market share you can find. In tourism, it is the “real tourist” that creates the best revenues because that tourist stays in accommodations for at least 3 nights , buys 9 meals , and also buys entertainment and a local product or two . We don’t have all those statistics but we have most of them , but you’ll never see them. We also know we have seasonal operations . You will never see the annual picture evaluated as a seasonal business . Back to cruise ships. Sydney is now getting a second cruise ship dock courtesy of government , all 3 levels. Not sure what the provincial share is of the $22 million , but you’ll never see any cost benefit analysis for that project investment either , yet that is given a higher priority than an investment in attracting that real tourist.
    Anyone who winters in the USA can tell you that the cost of visiting Nova Scotia in summer is quite cheap compared to the cost of being in Florida as a tourist in winter ; let alone summer . Florida attracts 80 million tourists per year and we can’t attract much more that 250,000 visitors, including all our relatives , every year from the USA . Something wrong ???

    Peter S | March 6, 2017

  • Of the 222600 Americans who visited NS in 2016, how many came on ship cruises?
    I do not think they should be classified as tourists, at least in the economic sense.
    Many stay “on board”-probably 99%
    Most eat all but one meal “on board”
    Some may take a tour
    But all in all they contribute little to the local community-it is misleading in the extreme to label them tourists,they are just people passing in the night.
    I spend 6 months a year in a US seniors complex and in discussions with my US neighbors who state they were in Canada on a cruise the majority can’t recall if they were in Montreal, St Johns or Halifax or recall one salient fact about the cruise except the quality or lack of the same of the food

    Bill | March 4, 2017

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