New Brunswick's population has hit 850,000: Higgs

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There are now more than 850,000 people who call New Brunswick home, Premier Blaine Higgs announced on Tuesday.

He posted about the rise on X, and during a speech in the legislature that closed the budget debate.

The budget passed 25-18, with votes falling along party lines.

“Our province is experiencing growth like never before. This is a key to our prosperity – more New Brunswickers contributing to our innovation, art, culture, and economy,” Higgs wrote on X.

“Let’s give our new neighbours, families, and friends the warm New Brunswick welcome we are known for. Hitting the 850,000 milestone means people not only across Canada, but around the world, are seeing the value, opportunity, and reward of choosing to live here in our beautiful province – the place we are proud to call home.”

Higgs’s government has repeatedly taken credit for the population increasing, despite experts saying the rise was actually caused by people moving to New Brunswick during the pandemic to take advantage of cheap housing and remote work opportunities.

But over the last year, the Tories have also acknowledged that the rapid population spike has put extra strain on the province, specifically in the areas of health care, education, and housing.

Higgs addressed the “exciting challenges that come with growth” during his speech to close the budget debate.

“We have added the equivalent of another Fredericton, with an increase of more than 64,000 (people) – the kind of growth that took us the previous 37 years to accomplish,” he said. “More people means more employment, more investment, and more capacity to grow our exports.”

Later, Higgs noted that the influx of newcomers “has impacted our society in many ways, and nowhere is it more obvious than in our school system,” where enrollment has increased by 10,000 students over the last three years.

Green party Leader David Coon scoffed at the government’s suggestion that it has had any role in causing the population to rise.

When asked about the premier’s comments, Coon quipped: “Yeah, is there a bell he can ring?”

“Our population has grown significantly because of the nature of New Brunswick, the nature of our people,” Coon said. “People, because of the COVID pandemic, were looking to go somewhere else, out of the big cities, and discovered what an amazing place New Brunswick is, and what amazing people New Brunswickers are.”

He later added that the population spike “had nothing to do with Blaine Higgs whatsoever.”

“If anything, some of the things he’s been doing has been undermining some of those quality-of-life aspects of our province,” Coon said.

Liberal Leader Susan Holt also extolled New Brunswick’s virtues, but said there are now “serious shortcomings” that the government isn’t doing enough to address.

“I think it’s rich for them to take credit for the growth while not making meaningful steps to serve that population,” she said.