Nova Scotia Liberals promise to slow immigration, allow infrastructure to catch up

Nova Scotia’s Liberals would slow down immigration to the province to let infrastructure catch up, Leader Zach Churchill said Thursday.

The election promise is a response to the Progressive Conservative government’s plan to
double Nova Scotia’s population by 2060, which Churchill described as a “reckless drive to double the population.”

The Liberals pledged to align population targets with recommendations from the
Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration. Current immigration rates have exceeded
recommended targets by several thousand, Churchill said.

Churchill’s plan, announced at the party’s headquarters in downtown Halifax, aims to give infrastructure such as schools, rental vacancy rates and the health-care system a chance to catch up to an already rapidly growing population.

Nova Scotia’s growing population

More than 21,000 people immigrated to Nova Scotia between 2016 and 2021. That’s more
than double the immigration rate between 2011 and 2015, which saw just under 9,000 new
immigrants to the province.

The Progressive Conservative government aims to bring in 7,000 new immigrants from
2023-2024, as outlined in the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration’s business
plan. Churchill said the actual number is closer to 12,000, a growth rate that he says the province can’t handle.

Churchill said that kind of growth means a “lack of family doctors. Hospitals and schools
that are overcrowded. And of course, the lack of housing and housing that’s affordable.”

As of October, there are 145,000 Nova Scotians on the waitlist for a family practice. Nova
Scotia’s rental vacancy rate is at a record low of 1.1 per cent. The average cost of a one-
bedroom apartment in Nova Scotia is $1,451 per month.

“Year after year, Tim Houston has exceeded the Department of Immigration’s own
population targets by thousands of people,” Churchill said. “Thousands of people more
than our provincial Department of Immigration says is sustainable.”

Federal government announces immigration cuts

Churchill’s promise comes on the heels of the federal government’s plan to pause
population growth in 2025-2027. The plan, announced in late October, aims to reduce targets
for new permanent and temporary residents.

“These changes will make immigration work for our country so that everyone has access to
the quality jobs, homes and supports they need to thrive,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller at the time.

Lowering immigration rates could pose a problem for small businesses. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said at the time that “we will struggle to maintain a strong workforce without robust immigration.”

Churchill said that it isn’t the immigrant population who are straining Nova Scotia’s
infrastructure.

“The issue here is the population growth targets that the premier has set to
double our population.”