Atlantic provinces hope to coax more foreign students to stay after graduation
MONCTON, N.B. — A program that helps international students to stay and work in Nova Scotia will be adopted by the three other Atlantic provinces as they try to grow their population.
Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said Atlantic Canada has a retention rate for skilled immigrants that “hovers at around 60 per cent,” compared to rates of 90 per cent or higher in Ontario and Alberta.
Hussen said the region-wide extension of Nova Scotia’s “Study and Stay” program will act as a compliment to the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Project announced in 2016 that connects immigrants and companies.
“It is very explicitly about retaining people here,” Hussen told a news conference following a meeting Tuesday of federal politicians and Atlantic premiers in Moncton, N.B.