New Brunswick's population tops 800,000

New Brunswick's population hassurpassed 800,000 for the first time.

"This is a significant moment for our province," Premier Blaine Higgssaid in a release.

"Our population growth strategy is exceeding expectations. We are experiencing higher immigration levels and positive interprovincial migration."

The province's population grew by 40,000 in five years and 15,000 in the past 12 months.

As of Saturday, Statistics Canada lists the province's population at800,052.

An encouraging sign

"A population of 800,000 is a significant achievement for the province," said John Wishart, the CEO of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce.

"Only five years ago there were stories of doom and gloom of the fact that our population seemed to have stagnated."

Wishart said the fact that the province's population has grown by 40,000 in just five years is an encouraging sign for the health of the economy.

He said the province's projections to reach a population of 1,000,000 by 2050 now seem feasible.

Wishart said much of this growth is thanks to immigrants who often move to the province with large families, and Canadians moving to New Brunswick from other provinces, including Ontario.

"We're seeing increases in the number of students in schools and working-age people," he said.

"Despite increases in things like housing and inflationary pressures, New Brunswick is still seen as a relatively low cost and safe place to live and work," said Wishart.

He said businesses will likely start to see the positive impacts of this population growth as life begins to look normal after the pandemic.

Wishart said one of the challenges with this growing population is housing. The vacancy rate in the Greater Moncton Area currently sits at 1.5 per cent.

"Most landlords will tell you a vacancy rate of four per cent is essentially zero because of turnover and people coming and going," he said.