N.S. premier says benefits of population boom outweigh challenges

This story is part of an ongoing CBC Nova Scotia series examining how the province is managing its record-setting population boom after decades of limited growth.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is fond of using the phrase "more, faster" when discussing health care in the province, but the tagline could just as easily be applied to his goal for growing the population.

After crawling at a snail's pace for years, the number of Nova Scotians topped the one million mark for the first time in December 2021 on the strength of years of expanded immigration efforts and a global pandemic that made the province a desirable place to be for people in other parts of Canada.

By that point, Houston had already announced the goal of hitting two million people by 2060. And while it might have seemed audacious to some people, the premier had something even bigger in mind when he first kicked around the idea.

"I actually had in my mind that probably three million Nova Scotians was best, but I said, 'What's really achievable,' and we kind of settled on two million," he said during a recent interview.

• Nova Scotia's population is suddenly booming. Can the province handle it?

Mathematically, early signs suggest it could be achievable.

Nova Scotia's population increased by 9,450 people from Jan. 1 to April 1 of this year. Year over year from April 1, 2022, to April 1, 2023, the population jumped by almost 40,000 people, a nearly four per cent increase. Only Alberta and P.E.I. experienced more growth during the same time period.

For Houston, these numbers are a welcome shift from years where the province's population stalled and the talk was about people leaving for opportunities elsewhere.

"We've been through a period of decline, where the major discussions were about closing schools, where the talk in the Tim Hortons was the businesses that were closing and the opportunities that were disappearing in communities."

By his own admission, doubling the population is "a lofty goal," but it's one Houston said is necessary to sustain the province's future at a time when deaths still outpace births.

"We need more people. Our demographics are not great. So doubling the population, for me, is about right-sizing our demographics. It's about making the province younger."

But even if such growth can be sustained, there are questions about whether it makes sense.

Nova Scotia's health-care system is stretched to the max now, with 152,000 people — 15 per cent of the population — on the registry for people without a family practice. The list has grown by almost 50,000 people in the last year alone.

Meanwhile, the province is facing a housing and affordability crisis the likes of which no one here can remember. Vacancy rates in Halifax hover around one per cent and rents have increased by 9.3 per cent in the last year, the highest spike in the country for residential rental costs.

'I accept the challenges of growth'

Houston is undeterred by these challenges, believing they can be overcome. The current growth is not unsustainable, he said.

"The reason I say that is we need people. Growth is not without its challenges, but I think as a government — as premier — I accept the challenges of growth."

The solution to access problems in the health-care system and the shortage of housing is to train and attract more health-care professionals and tradespeople, Houston has said. But if a sudden influx of health-care workers or carpenters were to arrive on Nova Scotia's doorstep tomorrow, where would they live?

The premier points to a modular housing program his government announced for communities that need health-care workers but have no place to immediately house them. Such a program could also be used for tradespeople, he said.

That program, announced in January, has yet to get any modular homes in place. Housing Minister John Lohr told reporters last week that the hope was to have some in place by the end of the summer and that work, led by the Nova Scotia Housing Trust, continues.

"We knew that it would take time to find land, take time to get the permitting done, take time to get water and sewer hookup," he said. "All those things take time."

Ready to work with municipalities

Lohr said he's expecting an update on the program "in the coming weeks."

Houston said having a bold goal for population growth is as much about getting people to think about how the province could look if the population were to double, and what it would mean for the economy, school and health-care systems and the opportunities it could create.

Accommodating such growth requires partnerships with municipalities and the premier said his government is prepared to do what's necessary to help. That could mean providing funding to help service land, the way they will for a recently announced long-term care project in Dartmouth.

If municipalities are experiencing growth-related challenges, the premier said they should know they have a partner in his government.

"I think municipalities have the same goals that we have, maybe a little different challenges because of the different levels of government, but I think the goals are the same," he said.

"They have a willing partner in the province and if there's a way to get something done, we'll definitely get it done."