N.B. sees record population growth, adding 25,000 people in past year

Statistics Canada says New Brunswick's population grew by almost 25,000 people over the past year, the largest increase in decades.

Quarterly population estimates published last week by the national statistics agency indicate New Brunswick's population stood at 820,786 as of Oct. 1.

That's up by 24,935 compared to the same day last year, an amount that's double the growth recorded over the previous year.

The sharp increase in population is a major reversal for a province that had nearly flat or negative growth in the 2000s.

A review of the population estimates going back to the 1950s shows the next largest increase was 16,717 between October 1970 and 1971.

Record-setting growth

Stacey Hallman, an analyst in the centre for demography at Statistics Canada, said the growth is record setting.

The population increased 1.1 per cent between July and October, higher than the national rate of 0.9 per cent.

"These last two quarters were the only two since 1971 where the growth rate of New Brunswick was higher than 0.8 per cent," Hallman said. 

No regional breakdowns are available yet to show what parts of the province are seeing the most growth. Hallman said that information would be available in January.

Hallman said the majority of the growth in recent months is from international migration.

Of the 8,725 population increase between July 1 and Oct. 1, 7,460 were from international migration. Another roughly 1,500 people moved to New Brunswick from other provinces and territories. 

There were 250 more deaths than births recorded. 

Hallman said of the international migrants, 3,300 were immigrants and about 4,200 were non-permanent residents.

Across the country, Hallman said non-permanent resident numbers are increasing due to work permit holders and people fleeing Ukraine.

"What we've seen since the start of the pandemic, the Maritime provinces in particular have been gaining a lot of people through inter-provincial migration," Hallman said. 

A lot of them have been people from Ontario relocating to the Maritimes. Hallman said they can't say for certain what is driving that move, but it could include cheaper housing and the ability to work remotely. 

The growth is taking place as rent increases climbed at a rate higher than the national average. 

Housing prices also soared over the same time period, though the market has cooled somewhat as the Bank of Canada increased interest rates.

Moncton has reported record-setting levels of building permits in recent years, largely driven by new housing.

New Brunswick's health-care system has also struggled. Thousands more names were added to a waitlist for a family doctor.

While the province pledged to cut the list of people waiting for a family doctor, the number of people on that list grew.

School enrolment has climbed. Finance Minister Ernie Steeves said earlier this month that record population growth resulted in 4,000 new students in the current school year.

The province has also scrambled to respond to growing homelessness. In Moncton, front-line advocates, city workers and RCMP counted more than 550 people living outside and couch surfing in October.