Local Immigration Partnership Releases Impact Report and 2026-2028 Strategic Community Plan
New Reports Show Western Nova Scotia Is Welcoming Newcomers, but Work and Everyday Barriers Remain
October 29, 2026: Immigrants who live in Western Nova Scotia feel far more welcome than they did five years ago. But nine in ten say they are at least somewhat underemployed, and the same everyday barriers keep standing in the way of people who want to build a life here. Those are the central findings of the Western Nova Scotia Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) Impact Report 2021–2025, released alongside the partnership’s Strategic Community Plan 2026–2028.
Led by the Western Regional Enterprise Network (Western REN) and supported by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the LIP brings partners together across the region from Barrington to Digby to help newcomers settle, find meaningful work and stay. Both documents are now available to the public.
What the surveys found
The Impact Report draws on three surveys the LIP conducted in late 2025, which heard from 89 newcomers, 59 employers and 98 community members. It compares the results with the LIP’s first round of surveys in 2021, when only 36 newcomers responded.
The welcome is real and growing. In 2025, 83% of newcomer respondents said they feel welcomed. Another 16% said they feel somewhat welcomed, up from 50% and 43% in 2021. The share of newcomers reporting discrimination fell from 37% to 17%, and 96% of community respondents said diversity benefits the region. Community members who see the region as welcoming to immigrants rose from 43% to 58%.
The picture is harder when it comes to work and daily life. 78% of newcomer respondents hold a college diploma or university degree, up from 65% in 2021, yet 90% report being at least somewhat underemployed. Transportation was the barrier named most often, by 79% of newcomers, followed by access to English language classes (70%) , healthcare (66%) and housing (60%).
Employers are ready to hire, but find it a complex process
Employers are more ready to hire than ever. The share of employers facing recruitment challenges dropped from 97% in 2021 to 71%. The share currently employing immigrants doubled from 31% to 63%. 83% are satisfied with their immigrant employees. Virtually all employer respondents said they are willing or open to hiring newcomers. What stands in the way is the system itself: 77% of employers cited a complex process or limited HR capacity to manage it, and 44% cited cost.
The community results also carry a caution. 61% of community respondents said they have witnessed discrimination, up from 35% in 2021. The report suggests this may reflect greater awareness, and that newcomers may be underreporting what they experience. Respondents pointed to social media misinformation as a common source of anti-immigrant sentiment.
A plan built on what people told us
The Strategic Community Plan 2026–2028 turns those findings into direction. Its vision is a thriving, diverse region where newcomers are welcomed, economically empowered and choose to put down roots. The plan organizes the work into three focus areas, the ABCs: Accessing, Belonging and Connecting.
Under Accessing, partners will work through collaborative working groups on the barriers newcomers named most. That includes transportation, housing, healthcare and language access.
Under Belonging, the focus is on bringing newcomers and long-time residents together. That could mean regular multicultural community events and a Cultural Community Ambassador program that pairs newcomers with established residents. Volunteer opportunities in places such as fire departments and non-profit boards bring a sense of community. Community members told the LIP that events and cultural exchange are the connection tools they prefer most.
Under Connecting, the plan aims to match newcomer talent with work that fits their skills and to make hiring easier for employers. That could include amplifying talent-matching services. It could also include creating a single point of contact to guide employers step by step through immigration hiring, and campaigns that encourage roles aligned with newcomers’ skills and experience.
Inclusion, Coordination and Communication
Two guiding principles run through all three areas. Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination commits the partnership to building a culture that matches the region’s welcoming values, including a public awareness campaign with positive newcomer stories and employer resources on workplace inclusion. Coordination and Communication commits partners to working as one region, with a regional communications strategy so that existing services reach the people who need them.
The plan also sets out how the LIP will measure progress. Goals include more newcomers staying in the region, more immigrant residents working full time in jobs that match their skills, and a stronger sense of belonging, tracked through repeat surveys, partner data and newcomer voices. The LIP has committed to publishing an annual community report that asks whether its work is making a positive difference and what needs to change.
Angélique Doucet, Western REN CEO said, “People here have told us clearly that they want newcomers to stay, and newcomers have told us they want to stay. The work ahead is removing the practical barriers in between, from a ride to work to a job that uses their training. This plan gives our partners a shared place to start.”
Read the full reports:
LIP Strategic Community Plan 2026-2028