Record international immigration and an historic movement of people from Ontario were the two major factors tipping New Brunswick population over 800,000 earlier this year, new estimates show.
In March, Statistics Canada’s “real time” population clock for New Brunswick struck the 800,000 mark, which was seized on by Premier Blaine Higgs as an important moment for the province.
“People across the country and around the world are seeing the value, the opportunity and the reward of choosing to live here,” he tweeted at the time.
On Wednesday, Statistics Canada released more information about what caused the surge in population, including the arrival of a record 6,581 immigrants into New Brunswick in the year between April 1 2021 and March 31, 2022.
In a scene that has become common in New Brunswick, Grand Manan residents turned out at the island airport earlier this month to welcome an immigrant Ukrainian family. Martha Eaton made two signs reading ‘Welcome to Grand Manan,’ one in English and one in Ukrainian. (Grand Manan Safe Harbour/Facebook)
It’s the largest number of people from other countries to arrive in New Brunswick in a single 12 month period since records began in 1932.
Mohamed Bagha is the managing director of the Saint John Newcomers Centre, which helps immigrants settle into the community.
He said it is a much larger job now than when he began in 2013 and New Brunswick was attracting fewer than 200 immigrants per month.
“We have been doubling almost every year,” said Bagha .
There “are challenges” with large numbers, he said, but immigrants themselves are generally “ecstatic” to come to Canada and have been well received in a province not as used to seeing newcomers as some others.
Mohamed Bagha is managing director of the Saint John Newcomers Centre and says for the most part New Brunswick has been welcoming of the record number of immigrants arriving, but he worries about the supply of housing for everyone. (Kirk Pennell/CBC)
“I think it’s getting much, much better,” said Bagha, “There’s a more positive attitude in communities.”
Immigrants added significantly to New Brunswick’s population in the last year but even as they were arriving the province experienced a second but equally historic wave of Canadians moving east.
During the year ended in March, Statistics Canada figures show 10,540 people from Ontario alone came to New Brunswick, in search of more space, cheaper housing or a change in their lifestyle.
It was the largest influx into New Brunswick from a single province in any 12 month period since records for that began in 1952.
Hayley Burrell moved to New Brunswick from London, Ontario., at the beginning of the pandemic As a real estate agent, she said most of her 2021 clients were people coming from Ontario like she did. (Hayley Burrell/ Facebook)
And because only 3,005 New Brunswick residents moved in the other direction back to Ontario during the same period, the province gained a net amount of 7,535 people in the exchange.
Movements between other provinces and New Brunswick were mostly a wash, but between the record Ontario migration and the record international immigration happening at the same time, population growth in New Brunswick over the year was more than double the Canadian average.
It is a stunning development in a province that experienced no population growth at all for 12 years between 1997 and 2010 .
“People are looking at New Brunswick in a new light,” said Higgs in a press release issued in March to mark the arrival of the province’s 800,000th citizen.
“Our province has much to offer and people are taking notice and taking advantage of the opportunities they see here.”
Fredericton’s U-Haul rental location was regularly jammed with trucks and trailers over the last year as thousands more people moved into New Brunswick than out. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Effects of the rapid growth, however, have been two-sided.
Many arrivals include younger families who are helping to counteract the province’s rapidly aging population and fill gaps in the labour market.
New Brunswick’s school enrolment increased by nearly 2,000 this year with gains in five of the province’s eight districts. And births, which have been in a seven decade decline in New Brunswick since peaking in 1948 even ticked up slightly,
But there have been problems, too.
When New Brunswick’s population hit 800,000 in March, Premier Blaine Higgs announced it on Twitter. The surge was driven by international immigrants and Ontarians moving east. (Blaine Higgs / Twitter)
So many people arriving at once has left housing in short supply with the cost of renting an apartment or buying a home escalating rapidly in the last year, if either can be found at all.
“Housing is a huge, huge problem right now,” said Bagha of difficulties immigrants are having finding adequate and affordable places to live.
“Right now, New Brunswickers have opened their doors, giving them space in their houses but eventually finding space will be a challenge.”
It’s a looming problem that needs attention quickly.
On Wednesday, Statistics Canada was estimating New Brunswick’s population is already up to 804,855 since March, an increase of 20,700 over the past 18 months.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the season and 32nd overall, helping the Los Angeles Kings beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Monday night.
Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala also scored. The Kings have won two of their last three.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. They are 1-2-1 in their last four.
Kopitar opened the scoring with 6:36 remaining in the opening period. Saros denied the Kings captain’s first shot, but Kopitar collected the rebound below the goal line and banked it off the netminder’s skate.
Fiala, a former Predator, made it 2-0 35 seconds into the third.
The Kings held Nashville to just three third-period shots on goal, the first coming with 3:55 remaining and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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DEVILS 3 OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his NHL career, helping the New Jersey Devils close their western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored. The Devils improved to 8-5-2. They have won three of their last four after a four-game skid.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for Edmonton. The Oilers had won two straight.
