Ontario woman fell in love with N.B., now helps others move here

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Jocelyn Clements left her home in Ontario five years ago, fell in love with New Brunswick and found her dream job as a relocation specialist who has helped more than 100 families move to the Moncton area.

“I had no idea what New Brunswick was like. I just picked a spot on the map and ended up landing in this place called Moncton,” says Clements, who grew up in London, Ont., and in her early 20s was looking for her place in life. “Three months turned into six and then into eight months and then I realized that this place was home for me. I came here with no ties to Moncton and left my entire life back in Ontario and felt the quality of life and feeling like I was part of a growing city was a feeling that I never had before in a larger metropolitan area.”

She worked in a few different jobs before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in business shutdowns, so she decided to aim for a career in real estate, specializing in helping newcomers find a home here in New Brunswick. She now works for Re/Max Quality Real Estate in Moncton as a relocation specialist, mainly for Ontarians who are thinking of moving to Moncton.

Her move to Moncton coincided with a boom in immigration. According to Statistics Canada and the City of Moncton, Moncton welcomed 2,285 permanent residents in 2021 and 4,005 in 2022. The Census Metropolitan Area of Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe became the fastest-growing CMA in Canada. During the pandemic, there was a period when buyers in Ontario and other provinces where bidding on homes in Moncton without actually seeing them.

Clements says she has helped approximately 100 families relocate to Moncton and find homes or rental apartments over the last two and a half years, with a large percentage of them coming from Ontario. She often shares the story of how she came here and found a new life, using the power of social media to make new friends during the pandemic shutdown.

“I think younger people in their 20s or 30s who grew up here and are thinking about leaving to take a step back and realize how great they have it here in Moncton,” she said. “There are so many places to explore here. There are so many things that are free and people should take a second to realize how great it is here and how Moncton is built on a lot of small businesses, food, hospitalities, and a long list of things that are free and beautiful, and people take it for granted.”

Clements said she likes to promote the low cost of housing and the quality of life to potential clients in other provinces. To do this, she worked with a client to purchase advertising space at the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, where Porter Airlines has direct flights to the Greater Moncton Romeo LeBlanc International Airport. The ads promoted a $2.4 million house for sale in Grande-Digue, along with photos showing activities, the landscape and tourist destinations found around Moncton.

“Our goal is bringing more potential buyers to that property but also to help showcase to anyone travelling through that airport in Toronto a little bit of what we have to offer in Greater Moncton,” she said.

Clements is also involved in the Realtors Care committee, which puts together hundreds of gift bags for the homeless and needy.