Population uptick 'really significant': researcher
A small rise in Newfoundland and Labrador's population is significant enough to suggest an improvement in the province's demographic outlook, a researcher says.
Statistics Canada reported this week that Newfoundland and Labrador's population as of July 1 was 507,895, or 1,436 more people than at the same point in 2007.
The provincial government trumpeted the report for showing the first year-over-year increase in 16 years.
Rob Greenwood, executive director of Memorial University's Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development, said the change represents only a third of a percentage point in population, but suggests that a trend is emerging.
"It's still quite small … but really significant," Greenwood told CBC News on Wednesday.
"For now, it's pretty clear it's based on net 'in-migration,' so there [are] more people coming back to the province now than leaving the province, which is new for the past 16 years."
"Out-migration" is a household word in Newfoundland and Labrador, describing an astonishing decline in population that was sparked with the 1992 closure of the northern cod fishery.
Thousands lost jobs
The fisheries moratorium, which put about 20,000 fishermen and plant workers out of work, has been called the largest single industrial layoff in Canadian history.
The 1991 census put the province's population at 568,474, an all-time high.
Soon after, a demographic free fall kicked into gear, driven by two main factors: a birth rate that went from one of the highest in the country to one of the lowest; and thousands of families — including young adults, some of whom became parents in other provinces — seeking work elsewhere.
In 2006, Newfoundland and Labrador set a dubious record in Canadian demographics, becoming the first province to record more deaths than births.
"The natural increase, births minus deaths, is still not in our favour," said Greenwood, who believes that workers returning to the province may at least compensate for that demographic loss.
"It'd be really interesting to know who these people are, their education level, skill levels, age levels [and] where they're coming from. My guess is that the bulk of these folks are Newfoundlanders coming back from Alberta, from Ontario," said Greenwood, who also credited the provincial government's immigration strategy.
Greenwood said additional data should be available in November that will better explain the population increase.
To help address the population decline, the Newfoundland and Labrador government earlier this year introduced a "baby bonus" of $1,000 per child, as well as $100 a month for the first 12 months of a child's life.