The province unveiled a new $200-million job creation strategy yesterday.
Premier Darrell Dexter and Economic and Rural Development Minister Percy Paris announced the strategy during a press conference at NSCC’s Waterfront Campus.
“We can’t allow ourselves simply to be at the mercy of what’s going on around us,” said Dexter.
“This plan gives us some tools to try and shape our economic future.”
The plan, dubbed jobsHere, includes $140-million in already announced or redirected economic development funding.
The remaining $60-million is earmarked for new initiatives, which Dexter said will be rolled out over the coming weeks.
The new initiatives include the creation of an innovation and competitiveness fund, to encourage technological adoption to improve productivity in small and medium-sized businesses, and the development of a strategic investment framework.
Dexter said Nova Scotia’s economic growth has been among the slowest in the country for two decades — something he hopes this plan will address.
And with a projected workforce decline of 20,000 workers in the next four years, the province also hopes to double the number of immigrants coming into the province to 7,200 by 2020.
