With New Brunswick facing the double threat of an aging and shrinking population, the NouLAB project is working to devise new strategies to attract and retain immigrants.

NouLAB is a social lab overseen by the Pond-Deshpande Centre at the University of New Brunswick and New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network. It is owned and driven by citizens and aims to tackle the big problems the province is facing. NouLAB has helped teams working on issues ranging from aging to rural revitalization and to housing for people with complex needs. Now it is working on immigration.

“New Brunswick is facing a crisis. By 2032, there will be one retiree for every person earning income in New Brunswick,” Karina LeBlanc, executive director of the Pond-Deshpande Centre at UNB, said in a news release.

“We need a new path,” added Leblanc, who is also interim acting director of the Social Policy Research Network. “The province is looking to immigration to attract new people to live, work and contribute to the community. But how do we do that in ways that help ensure success?” 

NouLAB launched the first cycle of its Economic immigration Lab last fall. More than 30 participants representing government, private sector, non-profit and citizens provided input on eight projects. A summary report can be found on the website.

The group recently began the second cycle.

“Participants from the first cycle on economic immigration formed strong, lasting partnerships leading to actionable solutions,” said NouLAB director Amanda Hachey. “In this second cycle, participants will be working to answer the following questions: How might we shorten processing times for international recruits for New Brunswick employers? How might we fill pending nursing shortages with newcomers? How might we improve community infrastructure to be more welcoming to newcomers?”

A social lab consists of a series of workshops designed to fully understand an issue and then develop innovative, actionable solutions that are tested right away. By bringing together the knowledge from diverse groups into one room, all perspectives are shared and more holistic responses to complex challenges can be achieved.

In addition to the NouLAB work, New Brunswick will host the Atlantic Immigration Summit in Moncton May 23 and 24.