(February 9, 2022) – Chris Tibbs, PC Official Opposition Shadow Minister for Immigration, Population Growth and Skills and MHA for Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans, says the latest census report shows immediate, urgent action is needed to reverse the declining population trend in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The first batch of 2021 Canadian Census data was released today by Statistics Canada and shows that Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in the country to see an overall population decline since the 2016 Census.

“We have a population crisis in our province – plain and simple. Although we have seen some positive immigration numbers recently, it still isn’t enough to reverse this troubling trend. Since this provincial Liberal government took office in 2015, we have witnessed thousands of people move to other provinces,” said Tibbs.

“We must do everything in our power to make this province as affordable as possible to live, work, and raise a family. We need to encourage our post-secondary graduates to stay in our province, we need to incentivize newcomers and their families to put down roots here – there are solutions available, if the Liberal government chooses to act on them.”

As outlined in the PC Party Bluebook, Tibbs is calling on the provincial and federal governments to come to the table with a joint federal-provincial recovery plan to address our population decline.

“It’s clear that Newfoundland and Labrador doesn’t have the necessary levers to reverse this population decline trend alone. We need willing federal partners to grow our population – something that has been lacking,” said Tibbs.

“I am calling on our provincial and federal governments to finally get serious about our population decline under their respective administrations and launch a joint federal-provincial recovery plan.”

Tibbs will host a media availability via Zoom at 12:00 p.m. to discuss his concerns. Media are asked to register in advance.

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Contacts:

David Maher

Director of Strategic Communications

(cell) 709-725-0984

DavidMaher@gov.nl.ca