After the province received an additional 1,500 immigration spots, they are still looking for more to fill the province’s labour shortage.
As Premier Susan Holt seeks to grapple with the “perfect storm in our ER’s” and the demands of the construction sector in the province, she is continuing to negotiate with Ottawa to open more spots for immigrants to fill vacancies in high-demand positions.
In February of this year, the federal government cut N.B.’s share of permanent resident nominations from 5,500 in 2024 to 2,750 in 2025. In the months since, the provincial government has successfully negotiated for an additional 1,500, which brings this year’s total to 4,250.
But the province still wants more and has continued to negotiate with the federal government.
She said the province’s birth rates have not contributed enough to meet the demands of critical sectors like construction to meet the goals of her government.
“So that’s where immigration comes in,” said Holt.
She said since the province’s own birth rates are not keeping up with the labour demands in the province, especially those in healthcare and construction.
She said those spots are going to support people with the right trade qualifications and the requirements of the healthcare sector.
“I think we can accommodate more than [1,500] if they’re helping us build the homes and deliver the care that New Brunswickers deserve,” said Holt in Huntsville at the recent meeting of Canada’s premiers in Ontario.
In an emailed statement to The Courier, Mary Rose Sabater, a communications advisor for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) referred to the announcement back in March outlining the federal government’s program to attract skilled immigration labour to construction.
“Over the past five years, Canada has admitted more than 50,000 permanent residents with experience in construction trades occupations, including many through the Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Federal Skilled Worker Program, Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP).”
The latter two have some buy-in from the provinces but not final say. For the PNP in New Brunswick’s case, the province would nominate someone based on their skills, education, or work experience but the federal government would have final say. The AIP is similar but addressed to meet labour demands when it cannot be found locally and the person must be a skilled worker or have graduated from a university in Atlantic Canada.
The statement also said community-based and regionally specific programs have addressed the labour shortages of local markets.
She went on to say workers with the skills necessary for work in critical sectors such as healthcare and construction can come to Canada through a range of temporary and permanent immigration pathways. She also said the IRCC factors labour shortages in when they are doing their calculations.
“These workers can enter Canada through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), designed to help fill proven labour shortages, or the International Mobility Program (IMP), which supports broader economic, social, and/or cultural benefits to Canada and provides facilitation to foreign nationals to address specific needs.”
She said these programs are pathways to permanent citizenship that allow “workers to gain Canadian experience.”
Yet at the last meeting of Canada’s premiers in a statement the premiers urged the federal government to give the provinces more control over immigration, moving closer to the Canada-Quebec Accord. An agreement that gives Quebec more autonomy than other provinces on the topic of immigration.
“As the Department looks towards the 2026-2028 Levels Plan and 2026 allocation decision-making, IRCC will engage all provincial/territorial partners and ensure that their perspectives are taken into account,” she said.
She said the Government of Canada will continue to work collaboratively with the provinces and territories to share objectives. She said that objectives include transitioning more temporary residents to permanent residents.
But–along with premiers–some experts disagree with how the federal government has handled immigration.
“When I look at a province like New Brunswick, I get quite annoyed that the federal government has not taken into account the different realities on the ground,” said David Campbell, president of Jupia Consultants Inc. and author of Toward Prosperity.
In his book, authored with his Insights podcast co-host Don Mills, he explains how integral immigration will be in the economic future of New Brunswick and the rest of Atlantic Canada.
“They made this big cut—everybody’s going to take a haircut—and I think it’s going to negatively impact New Brunswick.”
Campbell said that due to New Brunswick’s particular demographics our demand for increased immigration is much higher than provinces like Ontario and Alberta.
“Without an influx of population, we have about 100 deaths every year for around 60 births—so the natural population growth rate in New Brunswick is negative. Without an influx of young population, we’re on a terminal demographic reality.”
He said he is hopeful the federal government will reallocate New Brunswick’s share of permanent residents because of the eventual downturn effects that will be seen not only in the province but the rest of the country.
“Places like New Brunswick are going to see even more of a push or a pull from other provinces like Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia,” he said. “As they need workers they will recruit even more aggressively into places like New Brunswick and raid labour from here, and you don’t solve a national workforce gap by raiding you know within the country.”
He said there has not been enough of a distinction between permanent resident immigration and those coming temporarily.
“In recent years, Canada’s population has swelled, growing very fast. Most of that growth was temporary workers, international students, and their families. The permanent resident growth in the country has only gone up in a measured way every year. That’s the number that really matters—those are the folks who stay longer term, become citizens, and raise families here.”
He said temporary workers and international students are only here for a while and thus inflating the population only temporarily. Most leave Canada when they are no longer allowed to study or work in Canada.
Campbell said the province will need to see an increase in permanent residents because of their long-term benefit to key sectors like construction and healthcare.
“If you look at very important sectors like construction or manufacturing or healthcare, those industries continue to struggle to meet workforce demand, and immigration is going to be key to meeting that workforce demand in the years ahead.”
He said specifically in Charlotte County the birth-to-death ratio is not enough to maintain the local economy in the future. He made reference to the county’s agriculture, trucking, manufacturing, and mining as high employing sectors with opportunity to grow in the region.
“In Charlotte County there’s lots of potential, but it’s gonna have to be supported by the population.”
