On April 1, 2021, New Brunswick’s team of international student integration, immigration, workforce attraction, and settlement specialists officially became part of the Opportunities NB (ONB) team. This has better positioned our organization to leverage economic immigration and meet the labour market needs of New Brunswick employers.

With the province’s population surpassing 800,000, ONB implemented a new Immigration Navigator service this past spring to help further improve the immigration experience for international arrivals.

“New Brunswick’s population growth strategy is working,” said Arlene Dunn, minister responsible for Immigration and Opportunities NB. “Our population is continuing to increase, and we are committed to improving the experience for those whose dream it is to live in our beautiful province.”

To maintain that positive population growth and employment momentum, immigration will continue to be important for New Brunswick. Fortunately, we are well-positioned,  with an immigration rebound expected as international travel restrictions return to normalcy and the Atlantic Immigration Program’s move to permanent status.

Collaboration is Key

When a chartered flight carrying 170 Ukrainians arrived in Moncton in June, representatives from several of the settlement and integration ecosystem partners across the province were there along with Premier Higgs, Minister Dunn, and ONB reps to greet the Ukrainians at the Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport.

Settlement agencies play a huge role in ensuring that newcomers have the proper supports to live, work, and prosper in New Brunswick. The New Brunswick Multicultural Council is comprised of 14 settlement agencies and 3 ethnocultural associations across the province. These 17 member organizations help newcomers, immigrants, and refugees find the services they need to successfully settle in New Brunswick.

Our partners support newcomers through a variety of programs and services including:

  • Pre-arrival Services. Helping newcomers better prepare and adjust to life in Canada. These services can help new New Brunswickers with living and working in Canada, accessing education, work experience, connecting with employers, and more. Learn more about these pre-arrival services.
  • Services offered upon arrival. This includes Intake Needs Assessment and Referrals, help finding lodging, finding childcare and registering for school, job search assistance, language assessments, registering for English and/or French classes, healthcare orientation, creating community connections, and more.

These services are free and are available in both official languages in communities across New Brunswick. Many of these agencies also deliver programs specifically for newcomer and refugee youth.

Supporting Provincial Employers

The Government of New Brunswick works in close collaboration with these settlement agencies primarily through the work of ONB and our partners at Working NB, a division of the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL). In fact, this year saw GNB increase its funding by 30 per cent to support the important work being done by 14 settlement agencies across the province.

The collaboration between our groups is essential for employers, as our team has the pulse on the real employment needs of companies across the province. We ensure that our settlement partners are up to date on the labour force needs of employers both large and small. This helps ensure that newcomers to New Brunswick have, or receive, the proper skills needed to hit the ground running in New Brunswick and quickly find employment.

ONB’s Client Engagement Team – a value-add service not offered by most jurisdictions – are local experts that navigate the support required to ensure a positive experience for our clients. The team is well versed in regional best practices and works closely with employers to activate resources for a variety of business needs, including sourcing talent both locally and internationally. The team’s successes this fiscal year include creating better alignment for clients to access both ONB and Working NB services and adding Workforce Consultant roles to ensure every region has closer collaboration and better capability to help New Brunswick grow. Working closely with our partners within these settlement agencies only further strengthens support for both provincial employers and international arrivals.

Learn more about the great work being done by our settlement agency partner at https://nbmc-cmnb.ca/.

ONB’s Immigration Navigator service can be reached by calling 1-833-799-7966 (toll-free within North America), 506-799-7901 (outside North America), or by emailing immigrationnav@navnb.ca.