Immigration in Newfoundland and Labrador: How it works, how it worked, and how it might work

Newfoundland and Labrador is experiencing a major demographic decline. If things are left to themselves, the population of the province will continue to decrease and its economy will continue to shrink. Over the past two decades, different governments have tried to increase the population by increasing the fertility rate and by repatriating residents who had moved away, but without much success. This posesimportant questions for society.One of the possible answers to these questions is immigration, that is, the attraction and retention of residents of other countries to Newfoundland and Labrador. Canada is among the world’s most desirable destinations for persons looking to emigrate from their home countries. It is a developed nation with an excellent education system, the rule of law, a positive attitude towards cultural diversity, many economic opportunities, worldclass infrastructure and other assets. It is also a place that issafe from war or political unrest, something which is important for many immigrants coming from unstable geopolitical environments. But some residents of Newfoundland and Labrador are uncomfortable with attracting newcomers, or at least about attracting newcomers from outside the historic source countries of Western Europe and the United States. Islanders in particular are especially protective of their cultures and are therefore more wary of seeing their cultures changed too much because of the influx of people who did not grow up imbued with the same cultural values.This document will argue that: 1. The province no longer has any choice about whether or not to accept more newcomers. 2. Current residents have a great deal of control over who they let into the country. 3. Because of the inherent inertial nature of culture, it is extremely unlikely that newcomers will impose alien cultural values upon the host culture. 4. Newcomers are very likely to make the province an even more desirable place to live.