Immigration Minister Sarah Stoodley blames N.L. population decline on federal government

4 week_ago 9

NL·New

Statistics Canada reports that arsenic of Jan.1, Newfoundland and Labrador’s colonisation had decreased by 0.1 per cent — a nonaccomplishment of 301 radical — pursuing respective years of growth.

545,579 presently unrecorded successful Newfoundland and Labrador

Jenna Head · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 3:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

A pistillate with abbreviated brownish hairsbreadth stands successful the lobby of Confederation Building.

Newfoundland and Labrador's colonisation dropped for the archetypal clip successful 15 quarters successful 2024 contempt its record-high migration numbers.

Statistics Canada reports that arsenic of Jan. 1, Newfoundland and Labrador's colonisation had decreased by 0.1 per cent, a nonaccomplishment of 301 people. The province's colonisation presently stands astatine 545,579, compared to 545,880 connected Oct. 1, 2024.

Immigration and Population Growth Minister Sarah Stoodley said Canada's changing migration policies are the superior crushed for the decline, contempt 5,808 caller immigrants moving into the state successful 2024.

"I deliberation the assurance level of immigrating to Canada is changing," Stoodley said.

In January, the national authorities attempted to slash Newfoundland and Labrador's economical migration allocations successful half.

The state was allocated 2,100 spaces nether the Provincial Nominee Program and 950 spots nether the Atlantic Immigration Program, totalling 3,050 economical migration spaces.

Federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller told Stoodley they would chopped that number, leaving the state with 1,525 spaces.

"I'm conscionable gobsmacked, and my squad are devastated," Stoodley told Radio-Canada successful January.

Days later, the national authorities partially reversed the decision. Miller offered to summation the fig of newcomer spots with an further 1,000 spaces, for a full of 2,525 newcomers per twelvemonth — a fig that still falls abbreviated of the erstwhile 3,050 spaces.

"We're not whole, but 83 per cent is surely amended than 50 per cent. So we are precise pleased with this. I deliberation this is the champion we tin do," Stoodley told reporters connected Jan. 31.

Canada is cutting the projected fig of caller imperishable residents the state takes in, from 485,000 this twelvemonth to 395,000 successful 2025, 380,000 successful 2026 and 365,000 successful 2027.

WATCH | Sarah Stoodley believes immigrants consciousness little assured coming to Canada:

Despite grounds immigration, N.L.’s colonisation is connected the decline

Minister of Immigration Sarah Stoodley says Newfoundland and Labrador can’t spend a colonisation decline. She believes the latest numbers from Statistics Canada are a nonstop effect of Ottawa’s alteration successful national migration policies.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, Stoodley says immigrants are indispensable for the province's semipermanent economical sustainability.

"Our economical prosperity relies connected economical immigration," Stoodley said successful January. "We request teachers, we request aboriginal puerility educators, we request residential operation workers. We don't person capable of them here. We request to spell elsewhere looking for them, and we request them [for] the aboriginal of our province."

With Prime Minister Mark Carney expected to telephone a national predetermination connected Sunday, Stoodley said she looks guardant to moving with Canada's adjacent migration minister.

"We can't spend a colonisation decline.... We request to crook it around," she said. "Hopefully, aft the adjacent predetermination and moving with the caller national migration curate oregon possibly the aforesaid one, we tin get immoderate much numbers up."

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