Population Growth Strategy will Help Secure Long-term Prosperity

With a commitment to cultivating conditions that enable families and communities to grow, the development of a Population Growth Strategy will help Newfoundland and Labrador address challenges such as a growing demand for labour, an aging population and a lack of population growth.

“Newfoundland and Labrador is at a critical point in its history and facing real challenges related to population and demographics in the coming years,” said the Honourable Joan Shea, Minister of Advanced Education and Skills and Minister Responsible for the Population Growth Strategy. “The Population Growth Strategy will help us continue to address demographic issues by supporting young families, strengthening our immigration policy and drawing on the experience of other government jurisdictions across Canada and around the world. We will also continue to seek public input as we develop a comprehensive plan to address these challenges.”

Ross Reid has been appointed to lead this process. A long-standing public servant, Mr. Reid most recently spent the last five years developing and leading the Voluntary and Non-Profit Secretariat to support the community-based sector in this province. This secretariat was the first of its kind in Canada and has served as a model for other provinces.

Currently, the Provincial Government relies heavily on offshore oil revenues to pay government expenses. As people get older, the need for health care and other publicly funded programs and services increase. Minister Shea noted the importance of having a sufficiently expanding population and a balanced age demographic to maintain services into the future.

“Our government realizes that in order to carry Newfoundland and Labrador’s prosperity into the future, we must have long-term strategies to build opportunities beyond our current successes,” said Minister Shea. “The Provincial Government has developed strategies focusing on youth, immigration, seniors and others. These efforts will help inform the development of the Population Growth Strategy.”

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Media contact:
John Tompkins
Director of Communications
Department of Advanced Education and Skills
709-729-0753, 728-7762
jtompkins@gov.nl.ca 

2013 01 21                                  4:55 p.m.