Halifax Population & Growth

[jasonashhh]

Population
Greater Halifax has the largest population east of Québec City and north of Boston and it ranks thirteenth among all metropolitan areas in Canada. As of the 2006 Statistics Canada 2006, Halifax's population was 372,855 persons, this was an increase of 3.8% over the 2001 Census.

Halifax's population continues to grow; in 2010, Statistics Canada projected that the population had grown 8.1% over 2005 to approximately 403,188 persons.

www.greaterhalifax.com

This just shows we blew what they say our rival Moncton out the water I personally think we should start picking on Quebec City and grabbing some of there ideas and using them for our own. Were not up to population with Quebec City but we can continue to domitate my thought our population was always 375,000 put where up another 26,000 people and that's just 2010 where in 2011 now and more development are taking place like Kings Wharf etc, Like weekend I was in Moncton and I got to admit they ran out of Downtown in two minutes of driving they were back to homes and side streets. Halifax is nowheres near that so lets battle and go after Quebec City i'd say hmmmm?

Population Quick Facts:

59% of residents are under 45 years of age
More than 1/4 are under 20 years of age
Working age student population of 50,000 - due to 5 post - secondary institutions

[someone123]

Halifax seems to be doing okay. It would be a little more interesting and successful if it were a more popular destination for immigrants. To be honest I also think that population growth is less important than economic growth and city planning. There are bad cities much larger than Halifax and good cities that are much less populated.

Moncton isn't a "rival" in the sense of being a contender for the title of first city in the region. The size difference is too great and a lot of things are lacking in Moncton. They compete in certain specific areas as we've seen with the megaconcerts but don't have the same breadth because of the smaller population and second city status. For example, Halifax has a great deal more local musical talent and live shows. In my opinion that is much more interesting than geriatric rock bands who ran out of steam decades ago (if they were ever creative at all). Similarly look at restaurants or theatre or most other things and it's very one-sided.

[MonctonRad]

We may be second but we try harder!

[q12]

Actually 2nd largest in the region, and a more compareable city to Halifax is
St. John's. It is closing in on 200,000 within its Metro population. People seem to forget about.

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by q12

Actually 2nd largest in the region, and a more compareable city to Halifax is
St. John's. It is closing in on 200,000 within its Metro population. People seem to forget about.

If you actually expand St. John's to the area of other metros or HRM the population would be around 240,000.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

If you actually expand St. John's to the area of other metros or HRM the population would be around 240,000.

I guess, but the areas are based off of commuting patterns. And at any rate you could also play the "arbitrary geographical area" game with Halifax and draw an area around the city of 5,000 square kilometres that has over 400,000 in it. It's also possible that St. John's has a smaller population than Moncton within an area of that size.

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Agree. I think most people think of the Maritimes as a region. St. John's is actually as far away from Halifax as Montreal is.

Basically St. John's is not going to have anything that directly serves people in the Maritimes in any appreciable way. People travel between NS/NB/PEI all the time though, often just for daytrips.

[kwajo]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

We may be second but we try harder!

Moncton hasn't even passed other cities in New Brunswick, so looking to Halifax is a bit far off anyway. Saint John is the same size in residential population and has a greater tax, wealth and industrial base than Moncton, the two are twins for all intents and purposes.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by kwajo

Moncton hasn't even passed other cities in New Brunswick, so looking to Halifax is a bit far off anyway. Saint John is the same size in residential population and has a greater tax, wealth and industrial base than Moncton, the two are twins for all intents and purposes.

Moncton is also well behind Saint John when it comes to history and architecture. In my opinion those are some of the most important characteristics of towns in the Atlantic region because that is what sets them apart from other parts of Canada. The West already has bland suburban towns covered.

[q12]

Originally Posted by someone123

Moncton is also well behind Saint John when it comes to history and architecture. In my opinion those are some of the most important characteristics of towns in the Atlantic region because that is what sets them apart from other parts of Canada. The West already has bland suburban towns covered.

If I had to rank the Downtown area of Cities in Atlantic Canada for their history, architecture, vibrancy, and overall "feel" it would be something like this:

1. Halifax
2. St. John's
3. Saint John
4. Charlottetown
5. Fredericton
6. Moncton
7. Sydney

And thanks to King's Wharf I would say Downtown Dartmouth could be included in that list somewhere in the middle.

[Antigonish]

Originally Posted by someone123

Halifax seems to be doing okay. It would be a little more interesting and successful if it were a more popular destination for immigrants. To be honest I also think that population growth is less important than economic growth and city planning. There are bad cities much larger than Halifax and good cities that are much less populated.

Moncton isn't a "rival" in the sense of being a contender for the title of first city in the region. The size difference is too great and a lot of things are lacking in Moncton. They compete in certain specific areas as we've seen with the megaconcerts but don't have the same breadth because of the smaller population and second city status. For example, Halifax has a great deal more local musical talent and live shows. In my opinion that is much more interesting than geriatric rock bands who ran out of steam decades ago (if they were ever creative at all). Similarly look at restaurants or theatre or most other things and it's very one-sided.

If there was a +/- rating system on this forum you'd get a +1 good post.

Re: Immigrants they are moving in fast the last few years. Theres been roughly 100 Phillipinos immigrated to Antigonish in the last 2 years. The ones I worked with said they are bringing they're families over and moving to Halifax once they gain their citizenship next year.

[someone123]

Depends on if "region" means Atlantic Canada or Maritimes. I think looking at just the Maritimes makes a little more sense for the purposes of this discussion.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by someone123

Depends on if "region" means Atlantic Canada or Maritimes. I think looking at just the Maritimes makes a little more sense for the purposes of this discussion.

Agree. I think most people think of the Maritimes as a region. St. John's is actually as far away from Halifax as Montreal is. It's a bit like defining Western Canada as a region. I think it is arguable whether or not BC should be lumped in with the Prairies.

In terms of relative importance of St. John's to NF or Halifax to the Maritimes, I think there is some equivalence there. St. John's however is not in direct competition with Halifax.

BTW, in general terms I am OK with the concept that Moncton is Halifax's little brother. That doesn't mean however that Halifax should expect to win every fight. Occasionally little Johnnie has to win one too.....

[terrynorthend]

Read an article about Dexter wanting help from Ottawa to increase provincial international immigration to 7200 per year by 2015-2020. I hope he is successful. Most would settle in HRM no doubt, and those kind of immigration rates, coupled with normal growth would quickly boost our population north of 1/2 million.

[-Harlington-]

Province wants to triple immigrant numbers



By DAVID JACKSON Provincial Reporter
Sat, Apr 30 - 4:54 AM

The provincial government wants to triple the number of immigrants to Nova Scotia by the end of this decade and will press Ottawa for help doing it.

Premier Darrell Dexter and Immigration Minister Marilyn More released a new immigration strategy at Pier 21 in Halifax on Friday.

It sets targets of 5,000 new Nova Scotians annually by 2015, and 7,200 by 2020. There were 2,424 new immigrants in 2009, according to the provincial Office of Immigration.

Dexter said the province will continue lobbying Ottawa to lift the cap on the provincial nominee program, now set at 500. That doesn’t include the nominee’s family.

"It doesn’t make any sense, if we all agree that immigration is critical to economic development and then place a limit on that development," Dexter said.

The program allows the province to nominate immigrants who help meet the province’s labour and economic needs to have their entry to Canada fast-tracked by Ottawa.

Dexter said it’s unfair that Manitoba, with a population slightly larger than Nova Scotia’s, can nominate 5,000 people — 10 times as many as this province. There are about 1.2 million people in Manitoba, about 33 per cent more than in Nova Scotia.

Manitoba attracted 13,500 immigrants in 2009, more than five times as many as Nova Scotia, according to that province’s Labour and Immigration Department.

Tom Peck, a provincial immigration spokesman, said the big reason Manitoba’s numbers dwarf Nova Scotia’s is the prairie province’s nominee program started in 1998, seven years before Nova Scotia’s was up and running.

Dexter said, to be fair to Ottawa, that 2010 was the first year the province hit the cap for 500 nominees, but that underlines the need to remove it.

Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told The Chronicle Herald in December that removing the cap isn’t a simple matter. He said other provinces and groups also want limits lifted, but Ottawa didn’t want to increase the number of immigrants — 265,000 — it planned to allow in the country in 2011.

Dexter said the program is important but not "the linchpin to a successful immigration strategy."

The province is putting another $790,000 into programs supporting immigration. The strategy promises improvements to settlement programs, encouragement for temporary foreign workers to stay here, and earlier recognition of foreign workers’ credentials.

There will also be a bigger effort to provide prospective immigrants with information about life here, from the cost of homes to getting children into schools to required work credentials. Making that type of information easily accessible can make a big difference in attracting people, said Claudette Legault, director of programs and services with Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services in Halifax.

"Whichever province can get that (pre-landing) piece down right first is going to be the draw for immigrants just coming to Canada," Legault said.

Liberal immigration critic Michel Samson said he’s cautiously optimistic about the strategy, but he wanted to hear more from Dexter about efforts to lift the nominee cap.

"I realize the premier’s indication we can’t put our eggs all in one basket, but the nominee program has, by far, proven to be the most successful tool used in the province of Nova Scotia, not only to bring immigrants here, but to actually keep them here," he said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie said he’d prefer a target of at least 10,000 new immigrants a year. He said that’s projected as the minimum required to maintain the province’s population, never mind growing it.

"It is no time to be incremental or modest. It’s a time to be bold, and the strategy in my view is not bold enough," Baillie said.

He said he would like to see the province emulate Manitoba, which has settlement offices in rural parts of the province and a targeted approach to attracting immigrants.

The strategy says there will be a focus on countries and regions that have workers with the skills and transferable credentials to meet labour market needs.

( djackson@herald.ca)

[PoscStudent]

How does Nova Scotia do in retaining immigrants?

[terrynorthend]

I dont understand the role the federal government has in determining WHERE the 265,000 immigrants settle. Sounds a bit fascist to me. If accepted to Canada, a newcomer should be free to settle where he wants; close to family, a potential job, a community, etc.

Even if we divide up those quotas by prop. pop., NS should be allocated about 6,900 of those 265,000 immigrants for our 900,000 population, based on a Canadian pop. of 35M.

[NBNYer]

Originally Posted by terrynorthend

I dont understand the role the federal government has in determining WHERE the 265,000 immigrants settle. Sounds a bit fascist to me. If accepted to Canada, a newcomer should be free to settle where he wants; close to family, a potential job, a community, etc.

I think its mostly through incentives, marketing of areas immigrants are less familiar with rather than tell people where to go. Not all immigrants like the big cities, they may just not be as familiar with smaller canadian cities and provinces and just settle for the larger cities that they know.

[fenwick16]

I read that Manitoba tries to attract immigrants from areas that are most apt to stay in the province (probably Scandinavian countries with cold weather).

I think for Nova Scotia, places like Scotland, Germany, and other European countries with similar weather might want to stay in Nova Scotia, and these countries are relatively close by airplane (for visiting relatives after moving). Immigrants like to immigrate to areas that have same-country immigrant communities. I think in Halifax there is a fairly large Lebanese community so this could be another area to target.

If Nova Scotia feels that it can attract and retain people from China (maybe the colder northern parts) and India then those two countries have lots of people who want to emigrate. There are also the Caribbean countries which are close to Nova Scotia by airplane (but will people from the tropical countries want to stay in Nova Scotia?).

If the economy started to boom in Nova Scotia then it could attract some ex-Maritimers from other parts of Canada. There is no quota on attracting people from other parts of Canada - the Maritimes have been drained of people moving to Alberta and Ontario.

[PoscStudent]

Does job prospects determine where they are allowed to settle I wonder?

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

Does job prospects determine where they are allowed to settle I wonder?

Maybe not officially, but unofficially I think that it would (it makes sense also).

Halifax has to let Ottawa know about its low unemployment rate and forecast of tradesman shortages in the future.