To start, someone had claimed in the light rail discussion thread that CBRM wasn't really growing, citing old census statistics. The newest population estimates tell a very different story...
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CBRM growing faster than rest of N.S., getting younger in 'extraordinary' change
After decades of declining numbers and an aging population, Cape Breton Regional Municipality was the fastest-growing area in Nova Scotia last year and the population is getting younger, according to new figures from the province's Finance Department.
The numbers, based on Statistics Canada data as of July 1, 2023, show CBRM grew by 6.7 per cent, while the second-fastest-growing municipality was Halifax, which increased its population by just over four per cent.
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From the finance department
From Statcan data
The last 5 years:
2019 -> 102,560
2020 -> 102,356
2021 -> 100,734
2022 -> 103,095
2023 -> 109,962
Versus census years
2023 -> 109,962
2021 census -> 98,318 (+11,644)
2016 census -> 98,722 (+11,240)
2011 census -> 101,619 (+8,343)
2006 census -> 105,928 (+4,034)
2001 census -> 109,330 (+632)
1996 census -> 117,846 (-7,887)
So basically the last 2 years have wiped out the previous 20 years of decline.
Granted, the international student population is largely the reason for this population spike. With that said, the areas CBU is focusing on for recruitment have a culture that is more likely to adopt the area the immigrate to as their "home" by opening businesses and trying to create opportunities in the areas they live in, more-so than previous areas CBU would focus on where people would be in a hurry to move back, or if they stayed in Canada, to Toronto. There are some serious problems being caused by this influx, most notably the housing crisis. CBU is partially to blame for recruiting faster than housing and apartment vacancies can accommodate, certain recruiting agencies (specifically in Punjab and Gujurat which are two of the top areas of CBU's focus) are largely to blame for misrepresenting the opportunities available and claiming housing and work is easy to find so they can get their "finder's fee". All of this was made worse by pandemic deferrals, which caused a situation that wasn't expected where almost everyone that deferred returned to CBU in the same year, which wasn't accounted for when CBU sent out acceptances for that year, and pushed an already stressed housing and rental market far past the breaking point.
It's easy to make light of the "grift", but this strategy could have been a significant sustainable piece of turning around CBRM's population decline. There still may be time to fix it, but it will need CBU, CBRM, private enterprise, non-profits, the province, and the feds all working together.
On that note, to the developments (not all of these will help the above situation, even if they're increasing the dwelling counts):
^I haven't heard too many updates on this one.
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Development in downtown Sydney quietly moving ahead, officials say
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J. Francis Investments owner Craig Boudreau, who has plans to build a residential/commercial building on the former Jasper's restaurant lot on George Street, said since the pandemic, developers have been dealing with labour shortages, supply chain issues and inflation.
But the main factor holding things up is the building costs have doubled, he said.
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Supply chains have also been disrupted, with some parts either unavailable or on a months-long back order.
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Other developments mentioned in the story:
- Waterfront development on the old yacht club site (update below)
- Residential/commercial development on the old CB Post site
- The Dodd Street development above
- The Lyceum building on George St
- A park on Intercolonial St being earmarked for private housing with RFP to come (if it hasn't since the story was published in October)
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Sydney, N.S., gets $922K for new trail
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According to a news release from Infrastructure Canada, the federal government is spending $922,054 on the Washbrook Greenway Trails, which will stretch from Wentworth Park in the centre of Sydney to the Baille Ard Nature Trail System in the south end for 2.6 kilometres.
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^Not housing, but welcome as it will be a great recreation development that I've been hoping would happen for at least a decade.
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Cape Breton, N.S. governments spending $9.5M on water, sewer projects
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Main Street and Vale Street water main replacements in Sydney Mines ($2.1 million)
Bay Street water main and culvert replacement in Whitney Pier ($1.8 million)
Pleasant Street water main replacement in Dominion ($1.1 million)
sewer replacement in New Waterford ($650,000)
Other projects include:
installing a new one-megawatt generator at Sydney City Hall emergency coordination centre for backup power supply ($1.37 million)
upgrading the wastewater system on Cromarty, Shandwick, and South Bentick streets in Sydney to address sewer backups, increased sewer overflows, and surcharging manholes ($1.75 million)
the demolition, environmental remediation and restoration of the closed George D. Lewis School in Louisbourg to allow for future development ($808,357)
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Quote:
Extra spending OK'd for new North Sydney health centre
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The Northside Health Complex was part of a suite of health-care redevelopment projects announced by the former Liberal government, which the Tory government is now shepherding through the construction process.
The complex will replace the aging Northside General Hospital, which opened in 1954. The new site is expected to open in 2027.
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Story is behind a paywall. Basically they're doing much needed renovations on the three-storey building next to Cabot House to open apartments in that building, and converting the commercial space on the first two floors of Cabot House into small-unit apartments.
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