N.B. business community focuses on growing workforce, unveils federal election priorities

As party leaders continue on the federal election campaign trail, the business community in New Brunswick has released its wish list for the next government.

The six groups — le Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick, the New Brunswick Business Council, the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton, the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce, and the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters — all took part in a press conference in Dieppe Tuesday and focused on three pillars.

“Whichever party forms government must prioritize policies and investments that enable businesses to access talent and capital they need to recover and grow,” says Alex LeBlanc, the CEO of the New Brunswick Business Council.

The primary focus is being put on bringing people back to the workforce who are on EI, bringing new employees into it, and retaining those already on the job.

“Prior to the pandemic, New Brunswick was facing a historic number of labour force exits due to retirement,” says LeBlanc. “The provincial government’s projections suggest that more than 120, 000 New Brunswickers will exit the workforce over the coming decade with far fewer people coming behind them.

“Our challenges with labour shortages have only been exacerbated by skyrocketing EI usage during the pandemic,” he says. “According to Statistics Canada, in June 2019, there were approximately 29, 000 New Brunswickers using EI benefits and that number jumped to 57, 000 in June 2021.”

The pillars are: recovery and self-sufficiency, immigration, and competitiveness and fairness.

Some highlights include a goal of 10,000 immigrants by 2024, tax credits or incentives to help small and medium-sized businesses transition to a green economy, and the “removal of remaining trade barriers.”

“Some of the platforms we’ve seen so far have hinted at a couple things,” says John Wishart, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Moncton “We just want to reinforce that a healthy economy means a healthy society and a healthy province.”

Wishart says two things on their wish list might surprise people.

“One is our support of national child care, we see that as a lever to get more people back,” he says. “The second is housing, and affordable housing. Immigrants are a prime example. Many come to the region with three or four children, they can’t afford a house right away but they also can’t find a three-bedroom apartment, they just simply don’t exist.

“How do we create some supportive housing system where, for a year or two, we can house these people until they get their feet under them and can maybe afford something on their own.”

Leaders highlighted ACOA and the Atlantic Immigration Pilot as two successful region-specific programs.

But often decisions made in Ottawa are to benefit those in central Canada, they say.

There is also hope the immigration process can be expedited.

Wishart says the federal government could also be a partner in helping employers promote language training to ensure newcomers would have one, if not both, official languages.

Krista Ross, the CEO of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, says streamlining processes is also a key point.

“Ensuring that there are no holdups in application processes, whether that be for regular immigration streams, entrepreneurial streams, startup Visa streams,” she says. “We need to ensure that there is no bottlenecks.”

“We’re coming out of a very challenging time for the business community,” she says. “This election, like most elections is very important because it’s an opportunity to shape and impact policy.”

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