Five federal liberal cabinet mini-sters have inked a new immigration deal with the four Liberal East Coast premiers that will bring in as many as 2,000 immigrants and their families to Atlantic Canada next year. According to the Atlantic Growth Strategy, as the initiative is called, this is a substantial increase, amounting to almost half the number of immigrants in all of the region whose applications are still pending.

The announcement is welcome news. The four Atlantic provinces have been struggling to create robust workforces in the face of dwindling populations. Immigrants have been a prime target to help boost population numbers and, by extension, business activity. The new strategy, we’re told, is intended to drive economic growth by focusing on five priorities. These include making the region a destination of choice for immigrants and supporting the scaling up of small firms, technology transfers and the commercialization of research.

The plan, which has no public price tag attached to it, also calls for expanding business activities between Atlantic Canada and international markets, as well as marketing the region as one entity instead of four separate provinces. Investment in regionally significant infrastructure projects, including broadband connectivity, also has been promised so that Canada’s East Coast can capitalize on global trade opportunities.

These are big goals – and somewhat confusing. According to the joint statement issued earlier this summer by the nine leaders after their meeting in St. Peters Bay, Prince Edward Island, the Atlantic Growth Strategy is a two-year plan. However, the first action item under that two-year plan is the introduction of a new three-year immigration pilot project intended to address the unique labour market challenges in Atlantic Canada. Those unique challenges were not identified. But when the pilot project is up and running, the governments have assured us, it “will help to better match the needs of local employers with the skill sets of immigrants while helping to improve the attraction and retention of newcomers in Atlantic Canada.”

This is not the first time big promises have been made to residents and businesses in Atlantic Canada. One of the issues the region has grappled with – regardless of the political party at the helm – is a penchant for the quick fix. Traditionally, this has meant some form of “go big and go broke.”

To credit the new Atlantic Growth Strategy, the plan does not offer one salve to cure all ills. The program’s five-pronged approach, including the creation of environmentally friendly jobs, is a more measured solution. It may, however, be weighed down by bureaucracy. The five ministers and four premiers have formed a Leadership Committee to oversee the implementation of their plan, with plans for hiring more help.

But what’s a leadership committee without the support of a new advisory group to oversee its efforts? Then again, more committees mean more jobs.

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