This is good to see
If Halifax's population growth holds steady, the City should reach half a million people within the next decade.
Considering the long-term growth that will occur due to shipbuilding and the fact that Halifax is the only municipality in the Maritimes with a decent foundation of urbanity, our mean annual growth rate may very well increase and we'll hit the half-a-million mark sooner rather than later.
This will certainly be the case if the City's intraprovincial immigration increases, which is reasonable to expect from Cape Breton Island and the South Shore, as well as interprovincial sources of population, such as from PEI and New Brunswick.
In an Atlantic Canadian context, I don't believe it's reasonable to assume large numbers of people from Newfoundland and Labrador will be coming to Halifax to look for work, since that province can now afford to invest in job creation -- and St. John's in particular seems to be doing rather well in growing its market of urban living choices.