New Brunswick urged to spend on settlement agencies to grow population | MyConsultant

New Brunswick urged to spend on settlement agencies to grow population

New Brunswick must spend on frontline settlement agencies if it wants population growth says the New Brunswick Multicultural Council.

Alex LeBlanc, executive director of the Multicultural Council, argued the province must help connect immigrants with schools, housing, and employment. This is necessary because immigrants often arrive with few personal belongings or connections, LeBlanc says. 
 
Currently, N.B. spends approximately $5 million a year on resettlement agencies. However, LeBlanc says this is inadequate given planned immigration growth. 
 
Previously, N.B. Premier Blaine Higgs presented a goal to bring up to 10,000 immigrants annually to the province by 2020. Higgs also suggested growing N.B.’s population to one million by 2040. This would add $15 billion to the province’s gross domestic product and create 100,000 jobs. 

In the meantime, it is possible the province will achieve its target of 7,500 annual immigrants before 2024. 
 
Indeed, N.B.’s population reached a record high of 776,827 last summer, according to Statistics Canada. This was the single greatest annual increase since 1991. 

Source: CBC News.

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