Young people flocking to Nova Scotia as population reaches 1 million milestone
CBC
The tides are changing in Nova Scotia — more young people moved to the Maritime province this year than in recent memory as the total population surpassed one million people for the first time.
During the second quarter of this year, Nova Scotia saw the second-highest population gain in the country for interprovincial migration at 4,678 people, behind only British Columbia, according to Statistics Canada.
The statistics show the three largest age groups for interprovincial migrants were 20-24, 25-29 and 30-34 between the fourth quarters of 2020 and 2021.
Those age groups made up about 41 per cent of the people who moved to the province during that time frame.
Rebekah Young, director of fiscal and provincial economics at Scotiabank, called the figures "unprecedented."
Although COVID-19 likely sped up people's plans to come to or return home to Nova Scotia, Young said it's a trend that predates the pandemic, underpinned by the strength of the province's growing economy.
"We saw people who were able to come and get jobs here," she said, adding that many have ties to the region, but others are drawn by the quality of life, and appear to be putting down roots.
"But we also saw things like work from home that enable people to come with their jobs."
The number of people who came to the province from Ontario was especially high — 9,970 people between the fourth quarter of 2020 and 2021. Many even purchased homes without ever having seen them in person.
Honeidah Windross, 37, is one of those newcomers. Windross, her husband and their three-year-old daughter recently moved to the small rural community of Centre Burlington, N.S., from Brampton, Ont.
Windross is originally from Mauritius, a small tropical island in the Indian Ocean. She said Nova Scotia reminds her of her home country, minus the snow.
"I just feel like I belong here and was meant to be here," said Windross in a recent phone interview.
"The people are so friendly. It's not like in the city where you don't even know your neighbours. Here, you see the same people all the time, so you get friendly, and they are helpful."
She said the affordability of real estate and living near the ocean were huge draws. Her husband — who is originally from Newfoundland and Labrador — also wanted a rural lifestyle.
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.