Workforce Development

For decades, New Brunswick has been staring down a demographic shift that has seen significant outmigration to other provinces. This trend, combined with a low birth rate has made us one of the oldest and slowing growing provinces. The past couple of years have seen an uptick in the right direction, but the province must continue to focus on growing our population, lowering our average age, and increasing the number of people in the labour force to fill positions that enable business growth. It's this growth that funds the programs, services, and infrastructure that New Brunswickers deserve.

Immigration and Population Growth

Growing New Brunswick's population is one of the foundational goals for sustained economic growth moving forward and the Fredericton Chamber addresses this issue primarily by working closely with new Canadians and post-secondary students/institutions.

The Chamber advocates the provincial nominee program, express entry program, start-up visa, and others. We also actively work to connect post-secondary students with local businesses and the community generally by working with businesses, our economic development organizations, post-secondary institutions, and students themselves. There is substantial alignment of goals between these four groups and the Chamber works to connect them and advocates for policies that put this alignment into practice.