New Brunswick hands service commissions $40M for economic development, newcomer retention - Action News
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New Brunswick

New Brunswick hands service commissions $40M for economic development, newcomer retention

The New Brunswick government says it will transfer $40 million over the next decade to the province's regional service commissions to fund economic development, newcomer retention andlabour force development.

Money to be split among 10 of province's 12 commissions as they take on new tasks

A bald man with glasses with his mouth open shown with another man in the background listening.
Trevor Holder, New Brunswick's minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, announced the funding at a news conference in Moncton on Tuesday. (Shane Magee/CBC)

The New Brunswick government says it will transfer $40 million over the next decade to the province's regional service commissions to fund economic development, newcomer retention andlabour force development.

The spending was announced Tuesday a month afterlocal governance reforms required the commissions tooffer more services.

The funding will be allocated to10 of the 12 commissions based on a per capita formula. The Fundy Regional Service Commission around Saint John area and theCapital Regional Service Commission around Frederictonare excluded because they have separate agreements with the province.

"This is actually focused on a couple of key issues around population growth, making sure we maintain that growth, making sure that we meet our labour market demands," Trevor Holder, the province's minister ofPost-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, told reporters.

A man with his mouth partly open shown with another man listening in the background.
Daniel Allain, New Brunswick's minister of Local Government and Governance Reform, says the move is meant to allow each region to decide what works best for them. (Shane Magee/CBC)

Holder and Daniel Allain, the minister ofLocal Government and Governance Reform, said the funding will allow each region to decide what works best for their area instead of having decisions made by the province.

"Fredericton is not that smart. People in regions are smarter," Allain said during a press conference in Moncton attended by various mayors, regional commission staff and others.

The ministers said the government will sign performance-based funding agreements with the commissions.

The 12 commissions, which began in 2013, were originally mandated to provide services like solid waste and regional planning. They could opt to also offer some other services like regional tourism promotion and economic development.

Local government reforms that kicked in Jan. 1 expandedthe required servicesto economic development, community development, regional tourism promotion, regional transportation and cost sharing on regional recreational infrastructure.

On economic development, the ministers said the commissions can take on the task in-house oruse a third-party organization.

Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview had jointly funded an economic development agency called 3+ Corp.

Roland LeBlanc, CEO of the commission, said theSoutheast Regional Service Commission that includes those communities had already opted to carry out economic development. He said some 3+ employees now work for the commission and the mandate will expand to the region.

"So a bit of a change with this new funding very exciting for the region it gives us a great opportunity to invest in workforce development, workforce retention and population growth," Leblanc said.

A woman looks up to the right with an Acadian flag in the background.
Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold hopes the funding will help to retain people in the community. (Shane Magee/CBC)

Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold said much of the existing immigration services funding is focused on permanent residents, which left international students and others largely to volunteer groups to support.

"Weneed to be able to provide the proper services to attract, retain and give newcomers that real sense of belonging in our community," Arnold told reporters, saying it's hoped the funding will allow that to happen.

Dan Murphy, executive director of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick representing communities across the province, told reporters the funding is a good start.

"What we've been looking for anytime we dealwith the province isa long-term period that it's agreed to. Tenyears is certainly a good start for that," Murphy said.

Allain told reporters the province will be making more announcements in the future about the other aspects of the commissions and local governance reforms.

Corrections

  • An earlier version of this story said incorrectly that the funding is for 11 service commissions. In fact, it's for 12.
    Jan 31, 2023 5:48 PM AT