3 years this October
We moved from Halifax to Calgary in 2012. Not looking back, but I found some interesting comments on The Coast about people who moved away. Here's what they said:
Comments (187)
Showing 1-75 of 187
Add a comment
I hate to tell all you NS whiners that you are all rich compared to most of the people in this world. Yet you complain, complain, complain. The world is stuck on expansion and growth, at any cost. That kind of mentality gets into your head and now you "deserve" a better life than NS can provide. My partner and I enjoy life in NS on two part-time min wage salaries. We skip all the expensive things other people want/need and enjoy our free time. You should take a look at the way other people live in the world, see how they are truly in need compared to most of you. Go ahead, leave NS, good luck with finding a "richer" life.
report 0 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by livingsimply on 03/26/2015 at 1:41 PM
I would love to see NS become an east coast Canadian tech hub. My husband and his brother have a bootstrap startup. There was a push to move to Austin or Seattle, but I want to raise my son in Canada. So we're looking at NS, because I grew up in Maine and it's familiar. We're also considering Vancouver, for obvious tech hub reasons. NS offers fiber optic internet, which is vital for tech hubs, so THE basic infrastructure is already laid. I was surprised to learn, if we live outside of the greater Vancouver area, out in the further eastern burbs, the internet options are reminiscent of 2002. It's not feasible. We're not city people, we don't want to be in the city, we want one close, while residing in a small town. NS gives us these options. It would be a wonderful area to setup a tech hub environment and draw people in. The basic infrastructure with the fiber optics is already laid. Now, if they could deal with tax issue, WTH is up with a 15% tax on everything you buy? I thought 7% was bad, and we don't pay taxes on clothing, shoes or groceries. Why in the world is everything taxed at 15%?
The way to draw young people in is to push the tech hub vibe, a little hippie "grow your own food" mentality and clean air with low business taxes or tax breaks. I can guarantee, in NS there is probably a lot of untapped talent. Untapped because they don't have options, they don't know where to go for a seed round, or even how to seed a round of funding. Today's youth is amazing with technology and writing code isn't anything anyone needs to go to college for. It's done with drive and everything a person needs is freely available.
NS's youth should push for this. Techies are the best people to have around, they are natural earthy and love to keep things clean.
report like dislike
Posted by Saria on 11/24/2014 at 9:04 AM
I have been trying to move my family there for over a year..housing isn't the issue.. getting there is..I have even Tweeted and Facebooked the mayor of Halifax and told him i would clean bridges with a toothbrush just to move my family there and although it may have seemed like a joke..it wasn't.. If that's what it took to move my family there I would.. I wish I could find a job there that would pay to move us there.. My ultimate goal is to move my family there (wife, son and myself) and live our life there and to have my 11yr old son grow up, marry and have kids there so we could watch our grandchildren grow up there.. but that all seems like a pipe dream.. I don't want to live off the government there or anything just want a chance for my family to have a better life .. especially my son
report 3 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by branzack96 on 09/28/2014 at 10:40 AM
Nova Scotia is poor: blame the ANTI-POVERTY COMMUNITY!!! Yes, the "Social Justice" groups, "Environmental Justice" groups, "anti-Poverty" groups, Anti-capitalist groups are DESTROYING Nova Scotia and Maritimes. I'm talking about NSPIRG, the Ecology Action Center, Sierra Club, and Council of Canadians. I dare you to try and develop the economy in NS; if you attempt to lift people out of poverty in Maritimes by creating high-paying jobs, guess who will THROW BRICKS at you??? The ANTI-POVERTY COMMUNITY!!! The "Social Justice" groups. The "Environmental Justice" groups. As long as our economy is dictated by the blathering environmentalists at Ecology Action Center and NSPIRG, we will never have progress.
report 4 likes, 4 dislikes like dislike
Posted by eric mcleod on 09/23/2014 at 9:55 AM
So the author's solution for how to stop out-migration is to build bike lanes?
How about not abolishing oil drilling?
report 5 likes, 5 dislikes like dislike
Posted by eric mcleod on 09/23/2014 at 9:29 AM
Im from Nova Scotia but moved 15 years ago.. There is 2 taxes there and no work.. Or what little work there is is very low pay and no hours.. Its bull crap.. You want to attract people back then get rid of at least one tax and create more jobs that pay better.. Trying to attract more young people isnt going to work.. I work with 20 year olds from Nova Scotia that make the same rate of pay as me $40 per hour and only pay 1 tax on anything i buy.. Do you really think youngsters are going to move back home for maybe $10 per hour doing the same thing? Not!!!! So you keep trying to take blood from a rock Nova Scotia and pretty soon there wont be anybody left there but the greedy government
report 4 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Bernice MacDonald O'Hagan on 09/22/2014 at 1:05 PM
Try making a go of it in a smaller town(Bridgewater). The rent here is as high as Halifax with no jobs. I have a "decent paying" job at Michelin but it is a soul sucking existence to say the least. Why anyone stays is beyond me.
report 3 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Mark Lowe on 09/22/2014 at 9:20 AM
Wish we were still living in beautiful Fall River, NS but when the Darthmouth Refinery closed my husband was offered a job in Alberta, so we are making Calgary our home again. We previously lived in Calgary for 7 years but when the opportunity came to move to NS (and close to our 'home' province of PEI) we were thrilled! Both highly educated, with a young family we were there for under 2 years. We were heart broken to move back west but without job opportunities we didn't have much choice. This article comes as no surprise for us :(
report 2 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by ChellyAnne on 09/22/2014 at 1:45 AM
I gave up on the fairy tale called opportunity in both Cape Breton where I grew up and Nova Scotia itself 17 years ago when I left.My hats are off to all of you who are making a living home and manage to be able to give their children a good life,but do realize you are in a small minority and represent only a small percentage of the population.I mean,don't get me wrong because I wholeheartedly miss family get-togethers(as rare as they might have been),weddings,etc,but I know I made the right decision to leave when I did all those years ago.I'm no richer now than I was then and life isn't necessarily any more perfect every day of the week here in Calgary,but I do love the city and don't intend to leave it anytime soon unless I have no choice.
report 1 like, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by JWL on 09/21/2014 at 6:13 PM
Give up on the fairy tale ideas, kick the young people off the system , if the province stopped all the hand outs the people would be forced to work at some thing, their job would create a spin off then their money would be put back in to the economy creating more work. Some where the idea of not working came along because if it doesn't pay enough we won't work, at that point people flock to welfare. Putting paid baby sitter s in halifax or free bus rides won't help the province , that's just putting a band aid on the problem. I am 36 and fly back and forth to Alberta for work and not one of them ideas would help me or my family we are two hours away from the city.
report 2 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Roy Cook on 09/21/2014 at 9:17 AM
Nobody is mentioning the fact that there is the HST slapped on just about everything you buy, hydro rates are out of this world and the wages simply don't match up. Yes, Toronto's median income may match up but the cost of living day to day is cheaper. NS power rates are among the most expensive in North America, motor vehicle inspections(read tax grab), the inability of young people to find long term sustainable jobs. I am not a researcher,statistician, or Government lackey, but I know what impacts my family on a day to day basis.
report 4 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tim Beazley on 09/20/2014 at 2:14 PM
The easiest city in Canada to become an entrepreneur? Seriously think that one through. Entrepreneurs require people that can afford their goods/services to start with.
What if we appreciated and supported art's vital role in our city? The arts don't pay the bills for the majority of the people.
What if we had more beautiful and active public spaces? Then it would be an even more beautiful town full of unemployed people.
What if our governments were transparent and hackable? This is Canada you're talking about. The government is transparent. Hackable? Please.
What if we were the first province in Canada to provide universal, affordable child-care, attracting young families where parents want to continue careers? Where does this money come from?
What if we went all-in on rapid transit and active transportation? We would waste a lot of money. The majority of people drive cars.
I left Halifax as soon as I finished university. I was fortunate enough to get the best education possible in Nova Scotia and since neither the law nor medicine appealed to me, I got on a plane and moved to Asia when I was 21. I haven't looked back since - that was 19 years ago.
When I come back, the city looks more depressed, more run down and there is this feeling that this is where ambition goes to die. 40 year olds serving coffee. Any new plans for buildings downtown are shot down because we sure still need the cannons to get a clear line of sight on the harbour! Barrington Street is positively depressing. I can only take about 2 weeks being there and then am desperate to get back on the plane.
It's sad too, because there are so many quality graduates coming from the universities there. For the most part, I think people love Halifax and Nova Scotia. It's a beautiful place full of friendly people. The sad thing is that there are absolutely no opportunities there and this permeates through the entire psyche of the place.
The key is to find a way to build a sustainable middle class rather than find new ways to support and accept minimum wage job creation. The cost of living is far out of line with the economic opportunities, so of course people leave. When I graduated, what job could I get? Instead I moved and started making $75k a year at 21 and grabbed every opportunity that I could. That figure now has multiples on it. Attracting private industry should be the absolute priority. I have talked to people here thinking about using Halifax as an outsourcing center because the people are highly educated, skilled . . . and cheap. If there is not enough industry to soak up educated graduates, naturally they will go somewhere where their skills are rewarded and they can build a family. It's all about jobs and by that I mean highly skilled jobs - not making beautiful spaces, supporting the arts or putting more buses on the road (these are incremental costs that do nothing to generate meaningful employment for the majority of people).
I used to want to return. Now the only reason why I come back is to see my family, my friends and lament together on the state of affairs in the town I was born in. Such a pity too.
report 7 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Lars Mitchell on 09/20/2014 at 7:26 AM
I lost my job due to "Centralization" to Ontario and Queec not once but twice. The only work I could find was through temp agencies that wouldn't pay more than minimum wage. As much as I wanted to stay I was forced to move to Ontario for better chances for employment.
report 2 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Aaron Kenneth Conrad on 09/19/2014 at 5:28 PM
SO MANY younger (single, spouseless) people find that Halifax is so boring. Young people want a city with energy, with culture and with possibility....and so young people will pay for that - in cities like Toronto, Van, or Portland (sales tax free), etc. I love coming home to visit, but wouldn't want to get sucked into the black hole of defeat it's been tragically emeresed in, for many years.
report 2 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by CD10 on 09/19/2014 at 5:20 PM
Its not a hard formula to figure out. If Nova Scotia was to offer a better quality of life then people would move here. Good jobs that pay reasonable and pay overtime when you work more than 40 hours a week, less tax so our local politicians / government union jobs (teachers and health care workers included), will have to learn to live like the rest of the province does and Nova Scotia Power needs to stop charging some of the highest rates in North America. Do that and people will move back. PS> Please someone get rid of NSLC. The NS tax base paying people 20+ per hour to do what the private sector does for 1/2 that is crazy.
report 2 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by common sense123 on 09/19/2014 at 10:01 AM
They make this sound more complicated then it really is. The reason people leave is the same reason I left, more jobs! and more money! It would take 15 years to earn what I earn in 5 years in Alberta.
report 5 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by ScOtia on 09/19/2014 at 7:13 AM
Nova Scotia has become a haven for hipster sh%t heads who are out of touch with everyone else in this country, no jobs, no women without children or serious delusions, and the highest provincial & federal tax of the country, they should rename this province "f*ck you"
report 13 likes, 5 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tyler Nickerson on 09/19/2014 at 4:44 AM
We could not focus on cities like Halifax, most families would probably rather a nice loving community to live in; rather than a city. Help open little coffee shops, have farmers markets in more communities. I have to drive 40 minutes to go to a farmers market. Worry less about putting big corporations in towns or cities and maybe have more little stores who take a little community of it's own to run. Have people who care about there employees and costumers. Make it not just about taking people's money. If a person is just worrying about bringing people back to Nova Scotia because of the decrease in money our province has than it is not going to work. Just making jobs that obviously won't last forever will just make a sudden decrease in people again. Think long term, and care about the people. And respect the environment. If you start with community than the rest will probably work it's self out. This is not a quick thing that will be fixed.
report 2 likes, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Holli Aucoin on 09/18/2014 at 10:41 PM
If the Government would stop privatizing the resources in our province and making them governed by the owners to write their own laws, then maybe the youth could get a little piece of the maritime pie. But as long as this goes on, then the small towns will die and so will the urban centers as they lose their support sectors. The lop sided economy in this area is over whelming, you are either rich or living pay check to pay check.
report 1 like, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Ralph Hayden on 09/18/2014 at 10:04 PM
So many whiners. Are you really that blind? It's only been touched on in about 1/10 comments: the reason people are leaving the maritimes is OIL.
OIL. Period. Of course taxes out west are lower, THEY HAVE OIL MONEY. Of course young people want to move away to work, companies in the region BENEFIT FROM OIL MONEY - even INDIRECTLY, and are able to pay people MORE money in similar, typically low-wage jobs.
Why are we making excuses? If you don't like living in NS, then leave. As a young professional working in NS, I can admit to some struggle, and of course there are better wages out west, but you know what? I don't give a damn, because I like living here. Stop being so entitled. If you want to make more money, then move out west and chase that cash, but for God's sake, say it for what it is (oil money) and stop whining.
report 14 likes, 9 dislikes like dislike
Posted by slumlord on 09/18/2014 at 4:06 PM
I think that we should embrace the fact that we are a have not province. Make homes central to the airport instead a priority. Lets face it. With Saskatchewan's reserves Bigger than albertas and BC Shale Gas worth Trillions - enough to eclipse both Alberta and sask. Both these projects have yet to fully come on stream. Where will those jobs come from? Nova Scotia could become a commuter province! We should be training for the future jobs! 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off . It's a lot of travelling ,but it's good money! JUST SAYING
report 1 like, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Paul Viau on 09/18/2014 at 3:24 PM
Highest taxes in the country and the lowest wages. You do the math. Even with an education-you're forced to work in a call centre or some other meaningless job to survive. That is if you can find one. Left in 02' for hog town. Miss it dearly-could not survive. WTFUA.
report 10 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Liam King on 09/17/2014 at 12:16 PM
Cost of living is too high! POWER,GAS,FOOD, TAXES all foolish in Nova Scotia.. No Jobs, Companies that are big here, the Government allows them to contract out the work to other countries.. Our Government fails us yet again!! Dunno how many times I call Canadian business and talk to people down south.. Enough is Enough!!
report 8 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tyler Sponagle on 09/17/2014 at 7:50 AM
Umm cost of living.... Taxes, power, food, rental.... Did some cost estimates if I moved to B.C. (Minus not owing a house of course) I would pocket almost 1000$ more a month for equivalent life style. Don't get me wrong I love halifax and I'm here to stay, but it hurts.
report 9 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Michael Baldock on 09/11/2014 at 6:15 AM
We need to stop allowing people 50+ (of which I am one) to make decisions to KEEP EVERYTHING THE WAY IT IS NOW, FOREVER. Our resistance, if not outright hostility, to change must be overcome. We must allow young thinking and energy to drive this province. If not, I will be swelling the ranks of those seeking to leave.
report 19 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Lex Dunn on 09/09/2014 at 12:23 PM
I'm 39, with labor and office work experience. Being single and in NS I've had LOTS of problems finding stable work in NS, if I could afford to move to Calgary I would. Not by choice mind you but because that's were the jobs are. If the federal government would treat Nova Scotia as a equal, instead of as a pile of shit, this province could be a GREAT place to work and live.
report 17 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Blair Arnold on 07/02/2014 at 12:29 PM
How can I help?
report 0 likes, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Cindy Lee McGee on 05/24/2014 at 12:10 PM
Running a small service business in halifax and believe me it is getting tough to survive here.
The underground economy is thriving,as people pay cash for everything they can to avoid
paying 15% hst,who can blame them? we are taxed to death already.The writing is on the wall for this province,if you think it is bad now wait another ten years!The only folks left here will be seniors, as all the kids head west for jobs or to start businesses in a much better
economic environment. Politicians know this,but try to feed us the crap that young aspiring
entrepreneurs will flock in droves here to start and run thriving businesses,saving Nova Scotia
from deep economic decline. I would not hold my breathe on this one.
report 9 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by bills4065 on 05/10/2014 at 3:49 PM
At age 55 I married a Nova Scotia woman who was living in Toronto and we continued to live there for 8 years. We moved to Yarmouth in 2008 with our kids (6 & 2) to be near her father due to his terminal cancer. I am a professional accountant and consultant and the only employment I had was one brief assignment in the early winter of 2008. I have lived off savings and some very good luck in the stock market.
This past year I decided to look west because I am not able to make large returns in the market consistently. I am 68 and could find work in the oil fields with little problem. The jobs are there. The employers are desperately looking for people who will come to work and act responsibly.
As for the cost of living, I was in Grande Prairie (55,000 pop) and with the possible exception of housing, EVERYTHING was cheaper. A small example is milk. Here in Yarmouth after paying $7.31/gallon it recently dropped to $6.00. In Grande Prairie milk costs $4.68/gallon. The lack of a PST is VERY noticeable when larger items are purchased. I saved over $100 when buying my laptop.
report 11 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Eric Geis on 04/28/2014 at 12:56 AM
I left Cape Breton in 1986 at the age of 23. I was making $3.60 per hour......how sad. No way could I move out on my own and afford it. So shameful to loose all the young people. I have been in Banff Ab since. My dream is to retire in Cape Breton because that is all I can hope for. I have missed all the family events over these last years. And lost many family members, If I had a choice and could live I would be at home. Something has got to change to keep all the young people at home. Foreign workers are not the solution, real Canadians want to come home. The government needs to wake up before it just becomes a grave yard.
report 12 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Nancy Greene-Lazier on 04/26/2014 at 8:34 PM
If NS had lower taxes and less regulation then there would be opportunity and people would stay or move there. High taxes and government control = fewer jobs and less freedom
report 14 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Gord Nickerson on 04/26/2014 at 4:38 PM
I moved to Alberta a week after I graduated High school in 2005. My parents have been asking for me to move back ever since. However I can find a job that I actually enjoy doing and affordable living with no problems here in Alberta.
As much as I love Nova Scotia and like to call it home, theres no way I would move back to end up working 16 hrs a day at michelin or Mcdonalds... No way.
report 15 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Caitlyn Jones on 04/25/2014 at 1:06 PM
Back in 1995 I moved to Alberta, the N.S. government paid my way here. The best move I ever did for my future. But just goes to show you even way back then the government was paying for people to get out. Isn't that sad? The "Underground Economy" I guess has caught up to everyone but sadly will continue because people are being forced to hide income in order to survive. There is something desperately wrong with the government down there!
report 11 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Sharon Robichaud on 04/22/2014 at 4:18 PM
I agree with most things said about Alberta living not being all it's cracked up to be. We tried it and couldnt stomach the illegal housing where you cannot even speak in a regular voice without your downstairs neighbor freaking out at you and having a tantrum because the house is not meant to squish several tenants in it without proper facilities and sound proofing. You pay BC prices for a ghetto shanty. Open racism is indeed a problem there. Our experience was in Red Deer, I cannot say anything about Calgary or Edmonton or the more modern minded areas.
I also agree with what is said about Nova Scotia. We live in the Truro area, a truly horrible town filled with underage single mothers, drug addicts, alcoholics, gamblers, petty criminals, the highly uneducated (functional illiterates) and too many elderly. Town council is a nightmare that kills any all all progress that tries to rear its head. There is not even a transit service here. Finding a physician that didnt get their degree from their home printer or a cracker jack box is impossible. Never mind finding one that speaks proper, understandable english.
The worst part of the province that we are currently experiencing is the way employers treat the employees. Because they know work is hard to come by and bills need to be paid, they pay like garbage and work you to death, expecting cadillac results on a beater pay. Our employer makes the choice to close up due to weather and refuses to pay us for the day. Their choice not ours but we get penalized for it. They treat women here with extreme disrespect and pay us far less then men in the same job, often speaking inappropriately and berating and talking down to us. Anywhere else I have ever been would have resulted in legal action hands down. But we take it and get ill with stress because being hungry and homeless is not an option. The government doesnt protect workers here, they dont give a damn and side with employers who are downright evil here.
Its a shitty province to live, dont move here and make that mistake like we did. Go west or go to Ontario where its far better all around. If we didnt realize how long our house will sit on the market (2+ years in a good area too) we would be gone tomorrow. Good luck finding another sucker to pay the $3120/year property tax bill for streets that are paved half a day after a storm if we are lucky, no streetlights and no reason to pay more then we paid in Toronto for heaven's sake.
I look at slavery throughout history and ask myself what the difference is and I dont see any.
report 23 likes, 21 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tari Anne Kareidis on 04/17/2014 at 11:22 PM
Yeah I was sick of the province catering to old farts instead of giving young people incentive to stay. Yup makes sooo much sense to cater to people who will be 6 feet under the ground within this decade...
report 17 likes, 21 dislikes like dislike
Posted by MizzNyowie on 04/12/2014 at 9:33 AM
Let's cut to the chase here, don't bother with all that bs about making the city beautiful and rapid transit and transparent government. That's all bs. The only people who care about that are retired people. Why do young people, like me, move to other provinces?For work! That's it. Why would I stay in NS and work out of my field for 12 bucks an hour when I can move to another city and make 3 times that working in my field of study. You bring industry to NS you bring people. The end. Do you think people move to Fort McMurray for its beauty? Cut all the bs programs and focus on getting industry into ns and nothing else. People will follow, then taxes dollars will follow, and then you can do all the bs artsy fartsy stuff u want.
report 50 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Eric Purdy on 04/09/2014 at 10:28 PM
As soon as you mentioned more immigrants i cringed. There are enough unemployed Nova scotians, no need formore immigrants. All in all, im glad i left. In nova scotia, you get payed the least, you get taxed the most, and liquor is waaaaaay too expensive. And yes, those are the three things young people are looking at.
report 29 likes, 19 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Ashley Court on 04/08/2014 at 12:54 PM
What we need is to end the government monopoly on the economy. Regulation has crushed life in this province and overtaxation in the rural areas has forced everyone to leave. Massive external immigration will just bring people here who have no ties culturally to nova scotia. What we need are the young people to come home, and the only way to do that is to crush the government.
The other thing that needs to die is the left wing stranglehold on politics. The idea that we can tax ourselves into prosperity is a disgusting joke.
report 24 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Chase Suðrland on 04/07/2014 at 9:43 PM
The best decision I made was move to Calgary from NS in 2010. I make over three times as much as I would have had I stayed. I was always underemployed and underpaid in NS. In Alberta I just keep goin up and up! Hell, even my dating life has been a lot better. I had a hell of a time finding a decent guy worth their salt to date in Halifax. In Calgary I'm surrounded by eligible bachelors!
report 11 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by MizzNyowie on 04/07/2014 at 8:47 PM
My husband is in the Navy, I am a teacher currently on Mat leave, and we are leaving by year's end. As soon as the house sells we are moving myself, and our three children (under the age of 7) to Ontario. He's a Power Engineer, and will be out of the Navy by October. We've tried to make it here, but can't, and it's taken us a year to decide to leave. If you don't think there is a problem with people leaving look at the rural areas that are more than an hour away from Halifax. Nova Scotia's tax base is leaving, because it has shown little to no interest in keeping it here. As for those who think the data is wrong...I hope you're right, but I fear that I am.
report 27 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Crystal Fisher on 04/07/2014 at 4:05 PM
Good riddance NS... I left after working my ass off for many years in struggle town ... I am so much happier since arriving to Montreal.
People who are about progress and growth will always have to leave,,. That town( yes I say town) sucks the drive out of you.
report 20 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Leslie Carvery on 04/07/2014 at 2:09 PM
I also left NS in 1997 to work in the USA. There were no full time nursing jobs so I took a travel position and moved on. I often consider moving back as all my family is there but the pay is no where near what I make here. I love NS and wish the economy was better.
report 11 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tanya Bettencourt on 04/07/2014 at 11:54 AM
The NS goverment just took away the right to strike for health care workers..... as a new nurse with 2 degrees and well over $50,000 in dept even as a nurse my after tax pay gives me enough to make my minimum payments and rent but thats about it... I am seriously considering going west where nurses make more and have better unions working for them.....
report 8 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Kmo on 04/07/2014 at 11:50 AM
I have decided to leave Nova Scotia and even Canada .
The reason is I have a child by a non canadian mother and I have the child here with me and been trying to bring the babies mother here as the baby misses her much. Imagration canada told us the mother could not come here as she would get attached to her baby and not want to leave.the hell with this crap I'm getting out of here! And I had chinese investers wanting to invest in a large facility here that would of made much jobs. The last I heard would take 2 more years to get a snswer on if my baby could see her mom again or not . I like nova scotia .was born here but good bye for good!
report 11 likes, 5 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Dwayne Theriault on 04/07/2014 at 6:40 AM
I am a statistic. I left Nova Scotia in December 2013 for Alberta. I tried operating my own business in NS with little success thanks to over saturation of an unregulated market (photography). I also worked in a commercial studio doing highly technical lighting setups, food styling, product, food, corporate, and artifact photography and was offered $13.00/hr with little hope of reaching $14/hr anytime soon. If I wanted to make $13/hr I would get a job at McDonald's. After putting out resumes for two weeks in Calgary, I landed a job making $300/day plus per diems, and with my own vehicle, $1.10/km mileage. In a month I generally drive almost 6000 km for work. I received on the job training for my work. Why would I stay in Nova Scotia and use my hard earned education to struggle my way through life on a daily basis?? Besides that, companies are shutting down and cutting jobs left right and centre. .. I.e. Michelin cutting 500 good paying jobs in Pictou County. I love Nova Scotia. I love that I am from Nova Scotia. But there is a good chance I will always be from Nova Scotia rather than in Nova Scotia.
report 35 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Peter Young on 04/07/2014 at 1:49 AM
I am from Halifax . Left there in '77 . This has been Nova Scotia since ALWAYS. It is a small place . No real industry to speak of. No major population centres nearby. Harsh winters. It will NEVER be San Francisco or Vancouver (where I am now) . Nova Scotia is a revolving door ...leave when you are young (return during retirement) to places like Alberta , BC , Ontario for the most part business friendly provinces where there are larger cities whose demographics just by their sheer numbers provide more employment and or and natural resource industry ie BC , Alberta and Saskatchewan mining, oil , gas , potash etc which drive mega economies. Seattle has Microsoft and Boeing ..."THATS" what drives their economies and the like are not coming to N.S. anytime soon no matter how many bike lanes you build . Nova Scotia as beautiful a place as it is ...has always been and always will be a hand-out province (Federal transfer payments ) where the main industry is government and the call centres are subsidized . The purse strings of the province are pulled by the politicians and "old money" ie Sobeys, Irving etc. who will do their worst to stave off competition in their little serfdom. Further the population contributes to keeping themselves down by putting NDP and Liberal govts behind the wheel who are self serving and anti-business whom create revenue by taxing employers into oblivion and driving off young workers. The urban hippie mentality of building bicycle lanes, the freakin "arts" and "active public spaces" produces NOTHING. Can this writer be SERIOUS about adding gov't provided services such as "universal, affordable child-care, attracting young families where parents want to continue careers? What if we went all-in on rapid transit and active transportation?" You need BIG economies to pay for freebies and the last time I checked that didnt include people riding bicycles thru the snow for 4 or 5 months of the year playing the violin and painting a seascape. Mr . Flemming must have been asleep during his economics classes and wide awake during "socialist studies" further sounds like he has never spent any real time outside of N.S. (working) except on the internet. I visit back home frequently and can smell the desperation every time . Years before I left they were talking about a proper highway to Yarmouth which still has not happened, also offshore gas which has taken 40 + years to get onshore ....and seems to have contributed little in trickle-down thanks to the Irvings of the world. You want employment ? Put in place development friendly laws and tax structure and attract big resource companies to start fracking and drilling or mining coal again ..... get the wheels of production turning. Anything else are Trotskyite daydreams of unionized baristas........
report 19 likes, 14 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Stephano Muzz Muzzatti on 04/06/2014 at 10:02 PM
Once again The Coast has all the answers. Hmmmm, I'm a hipster and love bicycles, the Arts and not showering, so that must be the solution to everything!
report 9 likes, 17 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Chad Veinotte on 04/06/2014 at 7:08 PM
My partner and I came back to Nova Scotia after living overseas for 40+ years. Biggest mistake that we have ever made. Jobs are few and far between and what jobs there are, pay so poorly, it's not worth getting out of bed in the morning to go to work!.
The cost of living here, the high taxes, the poor service offered in shops and businesses, the general run down appearance of most towns and cities all paint a very poor image of Nova Scotia and what it has to offer people these days. I would never start a business here as there is too much red tape and taxes would kill it at any rate, so why bother. We will stick out the summer, put the house on the market and hope we can sell it so we can move on.
report 19 likes, 4 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Bruce Morrison on 04/06/2014 at 3:37 PM
I built a successful Industrial Control’s Company in Nova Scotia.
First you must understand the Government is not your friend
and neither is the Bank. Far from it !!
First thing to do is, learn how to cut Red Tape.
East Coast people are good people and make great customers !!
report 19 likes, 3 dislikes like dislike
Posted by George Daly on 04/06/2014 at 2:14 PM
I left NS for the north and do not wish to ever live there again! NS is over taxed and the lack of jobs is high too! The lack of progressive thinking in the province and Halifax is very puzzling. Every time there is talk of new structures ( ie a stadium ) a big up roar of don't change follows! Get out of the dark ages and come into the future Halifax! Look at Winnipeg! It has transformed itself into an awesome city that people want to move. Taxes have to lower and more free enterprise has to be nourished. The old guard has to move on so progress can happen ( yes Gloria I am talking about you and your cronies).
report 23 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Ken Cross on 04/05/2014 at 3:40 PM
well yes if you want to work there are jobs here in alberta I agree im from nova scotia and ill tell you people think they can come here and make big money don't get me wrong it happens but there families suffer in the end money isn't everything and the economy here is much higher to live its outrages what it cost for housing and bills and food its not cheap to live here and if I could work and my kids didn't live here I would be home people have the idea that its awesome to move to alberta but its not what its cut out to be sure there are things for families that cost money and lots of it so you move here and get a good job you rack up bills and then like home your laid off or fired because the next nova scotia will move here and take that job its a crazy cycle and don't get into the imigrants that are here working for peanuts and have 3 or 4 jobs to make ends meet or they have 5 families in one home and the fact that you don't even know your neighbours oh this is the best life ever well as far as im concerned nova scotia has more to offer then here you have family and love and if you want it to work and work to do that the economy down there will grow but all these sad stories I hear all the time is sometimes coming from people who claim they want to work come out here get enough stamps for uic and then go back home until there claim runs out and then they are back here some on welfare alberta is not what it cuts out to be
report 9 likes, 9 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Joanne Marie Dentremont on 04/05/2014 at 6:46 AM
I'd also like to add that in my age group 85% of them have left our hometown for Alberta and fly home only on time off or live there perminitly
report 5 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Danielle Tyson on 04/04/2014 at 4:56 PM
Why just Halifax ?
I am a young mother of three and in the city is the last place I'd want to raise my kids- having a large private yard, having animals, growing a garden are things we as a family refuse to trade in.
I'm from Shelburne county and we have nothing here- living from pay to pay is an understatement.
We have went to Alberta twice and returned home for family but if our economy here continues like this we will have no choice but to leave close relatives that have no choice but to stay here.
For family's with children three major things that would keep us here would be
1) Less expensive more flexible child care- I mean if you have two kids in daycare u mid as well stay home because u make 10$ and 8hr shift not to mention daycare hours are mon-fri 730-5 it's hard to get a job here let alone walk into a mon-fri day job.
2) Benifits, the few jobs here that offer them don't pay high enough wages to pay the bills let alone be able to pay the 20% not covered. Not that it matters because majority of moms either can't get a job or it's pointless to.
3) education choices - we have a college. You can be a cca ( which is now flooded with to many workers ) office or business administration
( which I took ) but there are no jobs for it.
Any which way I look at it I love my hometown, I love being close enough to have family dinner every Sunday, swim in the lake in the summer and have a yard ( that's private ) that's big enough for my kids and dog to enjoy
But no matter how much I don't want to leave and no matter how much I don't want to live the Alberta life..... I may have to adapt because stable income, benifits, and a healthy life eventually will take presidence over being able to enjoy my family.
report 13 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Danielle Tyson on 04/04/2014 at 4:54 PM
I was born and raised in Nova Scotia. After high school I left to go out west to find some work. I missed home very bad and came back several times hoping I could "make things work", but it never did. I went to college and then University to improve my chances, and came back yet again to "try agian". Nothing worked,because of variuos facts. The lady from England is correct, N.S. is not a business friendly province. People there may seem friendly, but when it comes to getting ahead only "their family matters". You must belong to certain families in N.S.. and even then its a battle within those familes. Now with my own family "out west as they say back home", I visit N.S. from time to time, but I'm glad i'm not raising my children there. There is little future for my home province of Nova Scotia, and it will take a mircle to change that cycle.
report 18 likes, 3 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Dale Sutherland on 04/04/2014 at 1:05 PM
'When the last tree is cut and river poisoned only then will you realize you cannot eat money' ~ Tecumseh
The rocky mountains and rolling foothills of Alberta are my church and Zen. The inner peace and happiness those places bring my soul are slowly being replaced with clear cuts and oil leases. I weep with my ancestors each visit as a bit more of the wilderness out west disappears... forever.
Agreed its harder to carve out a living here in NS, yet careful what you wish for as profit has a cost.
report 26 likes, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by UnleashedintheEast on 03/24/2014 at 9:39 AM
I don't want to lead this province, i don't want to be the premier of this province. But if i ever were the premier of this province, i promise that i will do it for free. I see too many people too hard up in this province, and i could not in good conscience accept any wage that would take away from the good folks of this province. I don't want to lead, and you'll have to force me to do it, but if you ever insist that i do that duty; i would. I’d guarantee you'll see changes like never before, and the only people leaving this province would be the career politicians. Quite frankly, they'd hate me, they'd call me a tyrant, a traitor, and just about every other name you can think of. But hey: what goes around comes around.
The only thing i would ask in return is that you provide me with basic room and board in the poorest section of the city, with a small living allowance for food/internet/power/transportation. The only condition i have is that you vote to kick me out at the first sign of trouble, and that i would only have enough in me to do this for 4 years max. When i'm done i'm done: you can keep the pension. Then i'll try to find a job based on what i did, like everyone else.
Thank you.
report 5 likes, 3 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tim Andrew on 03/21/2014 at 12:34 AM
I asked the author, Dave Fleming, why he included a line about government being transparent and hackable as part of a strategy to attract people to Nova Scotia. His long-form answer is here:
http://www.cpsrenewal.ca/2014/02/hackable-government.html
report 0 likes, 4 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Kent Aitken on 02/04/2014 at 9:14 AM
Just found out my son is leaving for Alberta. My son went to visit his father and had a job in two days. There isn't too much left here for me in Nova Scotia.
report 9 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by dartmouthfran on 02/01/2014 at 6:36 PM
I moved to Nova Scotia from England 11 years ago. I took over an existing tourism business and developed it in a rural area. Over time it has built up very slowly but is sustainable, just. I have taken outside work to make things pay. I have managed to open a second business in the same area and this is taking up the difference in income so I do not have to work outside my own businesses. Nova Scotia is not a business friendly province, it is much easier to succeed outside of the province. I belong to local chambers of commerce and have worked with the community to try and improve matters to retain our young workers.
Nova Scotian's need to be harder on their government to introduce factors in the environment that will fuel the development of industry and jobs. It needs to react now before the population is unrecoverable. It is not all the governments responsibility but others can not make things happen without a strong catalyst and this has to come from the most influential economic factor which is normally the right environment.
I have not given up with Nova Scotia, I am not a native Nova Scotian but I see so much this province has to offer. We just need to get our voice back and make it happen. After all we can not all leave and cut the province away from Canada so lets fix it.
report 26 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Kevin2014 on 12/19/2013 at 1:16 PM
@ pigeon
You are wrong. It's true income tax or consumption tax does not equate to a lower median income in comparisson to other cities. But when you factor in inflation (Nslc raises prices twice a year) as well as the cost of services and property tax our NET income is much lower. The situation is exasperated by the disproportionately high income tax on the middle earners in this province. Central economic planning does not work. Highly progressive taxation is, as we are seeing now, a recipe for depopulation.
report 13 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by John Dunn on 12/18/2013 at 5:06 PM
I know of at least one NS company importing foreign labor rather than hiring native Nova Scotians. In fact, I was displaced by one. Don't see much opportunity in my field, so packed up and left. 360.twizz AT gmail if anybody is interested to hear more.
report 7 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Displaced on 12/17/2013 at 7:47 PM
test
report 1 like, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Displaced on 12/17/2013 at 7:42 PM
Congratulations to David Fleming for making the Wall of Shame at Growth Bias Busted http://www.growthbiasbusted.org/entry/saying-farewell-to-nova-scotia-for-a-reason
report 2 likes, 8 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Dave Gardner on 12/17/2013 at 10:57 AM
*jobs
report 1 like, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by HubbardsBoy on 12/17/2013 at 7:52 AM
I'll come back when the job do. Don't worry, I'll wait.
report 3 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by HubbardsBoy on 12/17/2013 at 7:49 AM
This province needs jobs, if you can find a good job, and can get it elsewhere do it, dont depend on NS to provide it. Because its just not there most of the time and if it is, theres very few openings. This article so far out to lunch, services and expensive transport are not the ways to attract young people. You need jobs! Theres just not enough of them to go around here in NS
How to attract real business? Too much government subsidies, we see those jobs go out the window like RIM, and some of those other call centres. All going under.
Its easier said than done. Need the older generation to retire and open up positions. But we know that Canadians are in financial ruins, and are too laden with debt and some forced to work longer because they have to support their children now. Some of them mismanaged their funds and forced to work now.
report 10 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Christov on 12/16/2013 at 2:31 PM
I just found out I landed a job in Toronto, comes with a $12,000/year bump in pay, benefits and relocation assistance. I stuck it out here for 7 years after coming home to go to school, even started my own company for the last year and a half but enough is enough and I have to face reality that I'll never get ahead if I keep spinning my wheels here. It will be a fun place to visit, the scenery is pretty nice around here.
report 13 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by LIFE IS GREAT on 12/16/2013 at 9:21 AM
I have lived in Alberta for 2 years and there is no way I would ever consider moving home to work unless they match the Alberta pay rates. I’m 22 years old and a welder, I can work anywhere’s in the world and Nova Scotia would be at the bottom of my list. I plan to eventually move back to Cape Breton, after I retire and that would only be seasonal. Why stay in a place where it is a struggle to get by. There is so much more opportunity out here even for the smallest of jobs.
Every time you turn around down there, there’s someone new leaving for a big job in the Mac, or an office job in the cities of Alberta. I keep getting told by friends to move home work at the ship yards and live in Halifax. My answer to them is not going to happen. I can’t stand Halifax to visit, let alone live. I live in Fort McMurray which according to a lot of people it is fort crack, it’s all crack heads, rig pigs, gold diggers and so on. To be honest I would rather live in this town which has become more family oriented in the past 2 years then I will ever see in Halifax.
Where I work they offer flights to about anywhere on a 14/7 rotation. You always get asked where you’re from when you meet new people at a job, and when I say Cape Breton but live in Fort McMurray I get the look of why would you ever move there when you lived in Cape Breton. Especially when there are flights every 2 weeks back home. My reason is; who or what is left in Nova Scotia, especially Cape Breton? I have more family and friends in Fort McMurray then in Nova Scotia right now.
I don’t know all about politics, I get enough headaches being a woman working with men all the time as it is. From what I read on other people’s posts though it’s a huge problem down there. Those politicians need to realize that their province is dying and they better start doing something about it. I love being able to say I grew up in Cape Breton; it obviously helped me be the person I am today. However, now my life is in Alberta and it will be until my career is done with and my family is raised.
Alberta is the land of opportunity; Nova Scotia is a sinking ship.
report 22 likes, 9 dislikes like dislike
Posted by welderchick145 on 12/16/2013 at 3:53 AM
Lack of jobs + crushing student debt is a tough combo, but here are two easy suggestions to give Halifax a better vibe:
1) scrap the NSLC (think of Montreal, all you scaredy-cats)
2) scrap the bike helmet law (umm also think of Montreal)
report 7 likes, 16 dislikes like dislike
Posted by John Thomas on 12/15/2013 at 9:24 PM
I moved home to n.s. after 10 years in b.c. I lasted two years and moved back to b.c. would have left sooner but had to sell my dream home in the valley. N.s. is a run down overtaxed expensive place to live with not much to offer. I still miss it because its home but I will never move back.I could go on but no I'm over it.
report 22 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Brianne Chabassol on 12/15/2013 at 8:46 PM
At one time, people in Nova Scotia were very resilient and, at the same time, entrepreneurial in nature.
This has changed over the years.
We have all heard our parents say...."get an education so that you can get a good government job"....or have heard the cry "the government must do something". Both of these attitudes have contributed to our decline.
Of course our tax situation, our red tape burden, our aging population, our low GDP and our slow technological adaptation all contributed as well.
We need to become more entrepreneurial, we need to understand economic and community development and what is required for small business to succeed.
With regret many agencies who are supposed to be stimulating business are failing, because they do not understand business fundamentals.
This current government has a chance to exhibit leadership and implement strategies to turn the province around.
report 20 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Roland McCaffrey on 12/15/2013 at 2:48 PM
Since it doesn’t look as if Quebec is going to do Nova Scotia a favor, Nova Scotians will have to work within the system. However, working with in the system does have certain advantages, such as very large ship building contracts from the feds.
The native people in Canada often categorize their history as before and after contact with the Whites. Let’s look at Nova Scotia's history like that.
Before contact with Canada, Nova Scotia had a thriving coastal trade as far south as the Caribbean that was built on breaking bulk in Halifax. Rails from Sydney were transported to Africa and India on wind powered ships. There were hundreds of small industries like Sunlight soap and Lowney’s chocolate that has substantial payrolls.
After contact, high Canadian exports tariffs killed the coast trade and shippers were obliged to rely on meager pickings from servicing ice bound Montreal and Toronto. Then the Upper and Lower Canadians started out transferring. Steel mills in Hamilton stripped Sydney of skilled labor and contracts. Sherbrook took Lowney’s and more recently, Longueil took the Canso muffler factory.
What could Nova’s do to bring about a Restoration and stem the population drain? Other locations have fought back against similar conditions by producing heavily branded, specialty goods. Look at: Briar pipes, Scotch, Irish Cream, Mont Blanc, Ferrari, Egyptian cotton and Russian caviar.
Comments (187)
Showing 1-75 of 187
Add a comment
I hate to tell all you NS whiners that you are all rich compared to most of the people in this world. Yet you complain, complain, complain. The world is stuck on expansion and growth, at any cost. That kind of mentality gets into your head and now you "deserve" a better life than NS can provide. My partner and I enjoy life in NS on two part-time min wage salaries. We skip all the expensive things other people want/need and enjoy our free time. You should take a look at the way other people live in the world, see how they are truly in need compared to most of you. Go ahead, leave NS, good luck with finding a "richer" life.
report 0 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by livingsimply on 03/26/2015 at 1:41 PM
I would love to see NS become an east coast Canadian tech hub. My husband and his brother have a bootstrap startup. There was a push to move to Austin or Seattle, but I want to raise my son in Canada. So we're looking at NS, because I grew up in Maine and it's familiar. We're also considering Vancouver, for obvious tech hub reasons. NS offers fiber optic internet, which is vital for tech hubs, so THE basic infrastructure is already laid. I was surprised to learn, if we live outside of the greater Vancouver area, out in the further eastern burbs, the internet options are reminiscent of 2002. It's not feasible. We're not city people, we don't want to be in the city, we want one close, while residing in a small town. NS gives us these options. It would be a wonderful area to setup a tech hub environment and draw people in. The basic infrastructure with the fiber optics is already laid. Now, if they could deal with tax issue, WTH is up with a 15% tax on everything you buy? I thought 7% was bad, and we don't pay taxes on clothing, shoes or groceries. Why in the world is everything taxed at 15%?
The way to draw young people in is to push the tech hub vibe, a little hippie "grow your own food" mentality and clean air with low business taxes or tax breaks. I can guarantee, in NS there is probably a lot of untapped talent. Untapped because they don't have options, they don't know where to go for a seed round, or even how to seed a round of funding. Today's youth is amazing with technology and writing code isn't anything anyone needs to go to college for. It's done with drive and everything a person needs is freely available.
NS's youth should push for this. Techies are the best people to have around, they are natural earthy and love to keep things clean.
report like dislike
Posted by Saria on 11/24/2014 at 9:04 AM
I have been trying to move my family there for over a year..housing isn't the issue.. getting there is..I have even Tweeted and Facebooked the mayor of Halifax and told him i would clean bridges with a toothbrush just to move my family there and although it may have seemed like a joke..it wasn't.. If that's what it took to move my family there I would.. I wish I could find a job there that would pay to move us there.. My ultimate goal is to move my family there (wife, son and myself) and live our life there and to have my 11yr old son grow up, marry and have kids there so we could watch our grandchildren grow up there.. but that all seems like a pipe dream.. I don't want to live off the government there or anything just want a chance for my family to have a better life .. especially my son
report 3 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by branzack96 on 09/28/2014 at 10:40 AM
Nova Scotia is poor: blame the ANTI-POVERTY COMMUNITY!!! Yes, the "Social Justice" groups, "Environmental Justice" groups, "anti-Poverty" groups, Anti-capitalist groups are DESTROYING Nova Scotia and Maritimes. I'm talking about NSPIRG, the Ecology Action Center, Sierra Club, and Council of Canadians. I dare you to try and develop the economy in NS; if you attempt to lift people out of poverty in Maritimes by creating high-paying jobs, guess who will THROW BRICKS at you??? The ANTI-POVERTY COMMUNITY!!! The "Social Justice" groups. The "Environmental Justice" groups. As long as our economy is dictated by the blathering environmentalists at Ecology Action Center and NSPIRG, we will never have progress.
report 4 likes, 4 dislikes like dislike
Posted by eric mcleod on 09/23/2014 at 9:55 AM
So the author's solution for how to stop out-migration is to build bike lanes?
How about not abolishing oil drilling?
report 5 likes, 5 dislikes like dislike
Posted by eric mcleod on 09/23/2014 at 9:29 AM
Im from Nova Scotia but moved 15 years ago.. There is 2 taxes there and no work.. Or what little work there is is very low pay and no hours.. Its bull crap.. You want to attract people back then get rid of at least one tax and create more jobs that pay better.. Trying to attract more young people isnt going to work.. I work with 20 year olds from Nova Scotia that make the same rate of pay as me $40 per hour and only pay 1 tax on anything i buy.. Do you really think youngsters are going to move back home for maybe $10 per hour doing the same thing? Not!!!! So you keep trying to take blood from a rock Nova Scotia and pretty soon there wont be anybody left there but the greedy government
report 4 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Bernice MacDonald O'Hagan on 09/22/2014 at 1:05 PM
Try making a go of it in a smaller town(Bridgewater). The rent here is as high as Halifax with no jobs. I have a "decent paying" job at Michelin but it is a soul sucking existence to say the least. Why anyone stays is beyond me.
report 3 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Mark Lowe on 09/22/2014 at 9:20 AM
Wish we were still living in beautiful Fall River, NS but when the Darthmouth Refinery closed my husband was offered a job in Alberta, so we are making Calgary our home again. We previously lived in Calgary for 7 years but when the opportunity came to move to NS (and close to our 'home' province of PEI) we were thrilled! Both highly educated, with a young family we were there for under 2 years. We were heart broken to move back west but without job opportunities we didn't have much choice. This article comes as no surprise for us :(
report 2 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by ChellyAnne on 09/22/2014 at 1:45 AM
I gave up on the fairy tale called opportunity in both Cape Breton where I grew up and Nova Scotia itself 17 years ago when I left.My hats are off to all of you who are making a living home and manage to be able to give their children a good life,but do realize you are in a small minority and represent only a small percentage of the population.I mean,don't get me wrong because I wholeheartedly miss family get-togethers(as rare as they might have been),weddings,etc,but I know I made the right decision to leave when I did all those years ago.I'm no richer now than I was then and life isn't necessarily any more perfect every day of the week here in Calgary,but I do love the city and don't intend to leave it anytime soon unless I have no choice.
report 1 like, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by JWL on 09/21/2014 at 6:13 PM
Give up on the fairy tale ideas, kick the young people off the system , if the province stopped all the hand outs the people would be forced to work at some thing, their job would create a spin off then their money would be put back in to the economy creating more work. Some where the idea of not working came along because if it doesn't pay enough we won't work, at that point people flock to welfare. Putting paid baby sitter s in halifax or free bus rides won't help the province , that's just putting a band aid on the problem. I am 36 and fly back and forth to Alberta for work and not one of them ideas would help me or my family we are two hours away from the city.
report 2 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Roy Cook on 09/21/2014 at 9:17 AM
Nobody is mentioning the fact that there is the HST slapped on just about everything you buy, hydro rates are out of this world and the wages simply don't match up. Yes, Toronto's median income may match up but the cost of living day to day is cheaper. NS power rates are among the most expensive in North America, motor vehicle inspections(read tax grab), the inability of young people to find long term sustainable jobs. I am not a researcher,statistician, or Government lackey, but I know what impacts my family on a day to day basis.
report 4 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tim Beazley on 09/20/2014 at 2:14 PM
The easiest city in Canada to become an entrepreneur? Seriously think that one through. Entrepreneurs require people that can afford their goods/services to start with.
What if we appreciated and supported art's vital role in our city? The arts don't pay the bills for the majority of the people.
What if we had more beautiful and active public spaces? Then it would be an even more beautiful town full of unemployed people.
What if our governments were transparent and hackable? This is Canada you're talking about. The government is transparent. Hackable? Please.
What if we were the first province in Canada to provide universal, affordable child-care, attracting young families where parents want to continue careers? Where does this money come from?
What if we went all-in on rapid transit and active transportation? We would waste a lot of money. The majority of people drive cars.
I left Halifax as soon as I finished university. I was fortunate enough to get the best education possible in Nova Scotia and since neither the law nor medicine appealed to me, I got on a plane and moved to Asia when I was 21. I haven't looked back since - that was 19 years ago.
When I come back, the city looks more depressed, more run down and there is this feeling that this is where ambition goes to die. 40 year olds serving coffee. Any new plans for buildings downtown are shot down because we sure still need the cannons to get a clear line of sight on the harbour! Barrington Street is positively depressing. I can only take about 2 weeks being there and then am desperate to get back on the plane.
It's sad too, because there are so many quality graduates coming from the universities there. For the most part, I think people love Halifax and Nova Scotia. It's a beautiful place full of friendly people. The sad thing is that there are absolutely no opportunities there and this permeates through the entire psyche of the place.
The key is to find a way to build a sustainable middle class rather than find new ways to support and accept minimum wage job creation. The cost of living is far out of line with the economic opportunities, so of course people leave. When I graduated, what job could I get? Instead I moved and started making $75k a year at 21 and grabbed every opportunity that I could. That figure now has multiples on it. Attracting private industry should be the absolute priority. I have talked to people here thinking about using Halifax as an outsourcing center because the people are highly educated, skilled . . . and cheap. If there is not enough industry to soak up educated graduates, naturally they will go somewhere where their skills are rewarded and they can build a family. It's all about jobs and by that I mean highly skilled jobs - not making beautiful spaces, supporting the arts or putting more buses on the road (these are incremental costs that do nothing to generate meaningful employment for the majority of people).
I used to want to return. Now the only reason why I come back is to see my family, my friends and lament together on the state of affairs in the town I was born in. Such a pity too.
report 7 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Lars Mitchell on 09/20/2014 at 7:26 AM
I lost my job due to "Centralization" to Ontario and Queec not once but twice. The only work I could find was through temp agencies that wouldn't pay more than minimum wage. As much as I wanted to stay I was forced to move to Ontario for better chances for employment.
report 2 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Aaron Kenneth Conrad on 09/19/2014 at 5:28 PM
SO MANY younger (single, spouseless) people find that Halifax is so boring. Young people want a city with energy, with culture and with possibility....and so young people will pay for that - in cities like Toronto, Van, or Portland (sales tax free), etc. I love coming home to visit, but wouldn't want to get sucked into the black hole of defeat it's been tragically emeresed in, for many years.
report 2 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by CD10 on 09/19/2014 at 5:20 PM
Its not a hard formula to figure out. If Nova Scotia was to offer a better quality of life then people would move here. Good jobs that pay reasonable and pay overtime when you work more than 40 hours a week, less tax so our local politicians / government union jobs (teachers and health care workers included), will have to learn to live like the rest of the province does and Nova Scotia Power needs to stop charging some of the highest rates in North America. Do that and people will move back. PS> Please someone get rid of NSLC. The NS tax base paying people 20+ per hour to do what the private sector does for 1/2 that is crazy.
report 2 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by common sense123 on 09/19/2014 at 10:01 AM
They make this sound more complicated then it really is. The reason people leave is the same reason I left, more jobs! and more money! It would take 15 years to earn what I earn in 5 years in Alberta.
report 5 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by ScOtia on 09/19/2014 at 7:13 AM
Nova Scotia has become a haven for hipster sh%t heads who are out of touch with everyone else in this country, no jobs, no women without children or serious delusions, and the highest provincial & federal tax of the country, they should rename this province "f*ck you"
report 13 likes, 5 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tyler Nickerson on 09/19/2014 at 4:44 AM
We could not focus on cities like Halifax, most families would probably rather a nice loving community to live in; rather than a city. Help open little coffee shops, have farmers markets in more communities. I have to drive 40 minutes to go to a farmers market. Worry less about putting big corporations in towns or cities and maybe have more little stores who take a little community of it's own to run. Have people who care about there employees and costumers. Make it not just about taking people's money. If a person is just worrying about bringing people back to Nova Scotia because of the decrease in money our province has than it is not going to work. Just making jobs that obviously won't last forever will just make a sudden decrease in people again. Think long term, and care about the people. And respect the environment. If you start with community than the rest will probably work it's self out. This is not a quick thing that will be fixed.
report 2 likes, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Holli Aucoin on 09/18/2014 at 10:41 PM
If the Government would stop privatizing the resources in our province and making them governed by the owners to write their own laws, then maybe the youth could get a little piece of the maritime pie. But as long as this goes on, then the small towns will die and so will the urban centers as they lose their support sectors. The lop sided economy in this area is over whelming, you are either rich or living pay check to pay check.
report 1 like, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Ralph Hayden on 09/18/2014 at 10:04 PM
So many whiners. Are you really that blind? It's only been touched on in about 1/10 comments: the reason people are leaving the maritimes is OIL.
OIL. Period. Of course taxes out west are lower, THEY HAVE OIL MONEY. Of course young people want to move away to work, companies in the region BENEFIT FROM OIL MONEY - even INDIRECTLY, and are able to pay people MORE money in similar, typically low-wage jobs.
Why are we making excuses? If you don't like living in NS, then leave. As a young professional working in NS, I can admit to some struggle, and of course there are better wages out west, but you know what? I don't give a damn, because I like living here. Stop being so entitled. If you want to make more money, then move out west and chase that cash, but for God's sake, say it for what it is (oil money) and stop whining.
report 14 likes, 9 dislikes like dislike
Posted by slumlord on 09/18/2014 at 4:06 PM
I think that we should embrace the fact that we are a have not province. Make homes central to the airport instead a priority. Lets face it. With Saskatchewan's reserves Bigger than albertas and BC Shale Gas worth Trillions - enough to eclipse both Alberta and sask. Both these projects have yet to fully come on stream. Where will those jobs come from? Nova Scotia could become a commuter province! We should be training for the future jobs! 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off . It's a lot of travelling ,but it's good money! JUST SAYING
report 1 like, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Paul Viau on 09/18/2014 at 3:24 PM
Highest taxes in the country and the lowest wages. You do the math. Even with an education-you're forced to work in a call centre or some other meaningless job to survive. That is if you can find one. Left in 02' for hog town. Miss it dearly-could not survive. WTFUA.
report 10 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Liam King on 09/17/2014 at 12:16 PM
Cost of living is too high! POWER,GAS,FOOD, TAXES all foolish in Nova Scotia.. No Jobs, Companies that are big here, the Government allows them to contract out the work to other countries.. Our Government fails us yet again!! Dunno how many times I call Canadian business and talk to people down south.. Enough is Enough!!
report 8 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tyler Sponagle on 09/17/2014 at 7:50 AM
Umm cost of living.... Taxes, power, food, rental.... Did some cost estimates if I moved to B.C. (Minus not owing a house of course) I would pocket almost 1000$ more a month for equivalent life style. Don't get me wrong I love halifax and I'm here to stay, but it hurts.
report 9 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Michael Baldock on 09/11/2014 at 6:15 AM
We need to stop allowing people 50+ (of which I am one) to make decisions to KEEP EVERYTHING THE WAY IT IS NOW, FOREVER. Our resistance, if not outright hostility, to change must be overcome. We must allow young thinking and energy to drive this province. If not, I will be swelling the ranks of those seeking to leave.
report 19 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Lex Dunn on 09/09/2014 at 12:23 PM
I'm 39, with labor and office work experience. Being single and in NS I've had LOTS of problems finding stable work in NS, if I could afford to move to Calgary I would. Not by choice mind you but because that's were the jobs are. If the federal government would treat Nova Scotia as a equal, instead of as a pile of shit, this province could be a GREAT place to work and live.
report 17 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Blair Arnold on 07/02/2014 at 12:29 PM
How can I help?
report 0 likes, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Cindy Lee McGee on 05/24/2014 at 12:10 PM
Running a small service business in halifax and believe me it is getting tough to survive here.
The underground economy is thriving,as people pay cash for everything they can to avoid
paying 15% hst,who can blame them? we are taxed to death already.The writing is on the wall for this province,if you think it is bad now wait another ten years!The only folks left here will be seniors, as all the kids head west for jobs or to start businesses in a much better
economic environment. Politicians know this,but try to feed us the crap that young aspiring
entrepreneurs will flock in droves here to start and run thriving businesses,saving Nova Scotia
from deep economic decline. I would not hold my breathe on this one.
report 9 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by bills4065 on 05/10/2014 at 3:49 PM
At age 55 I married a Nova Scotia woman who was living in Toronto and we continued to live there for 8 years. We moved to Yarmouth in 2008 with our kids (6 & 2) to be near her father due to his terminal cancer. I am a professional accountant and consultant and the only employment I had was one brief assignment in the early winter of 2008. I have lived off savings and some very good luck in the stock market.
This past year I decided to look west because I am not able to make large returns in the market consistently. I am 68 and could find work in the oil fields with little problem. The jobs are there. The employers are desperately looking for people who will come to work and act responsibly.
As for the cost of living, I was in Grande Prairie (55,000 pop) and with the possible exception of housing, EVERYTHING was cheaper. A small example is milk. Here in Yarmouth after paying $7.31/gallon it recently dropped to $6.00. In Grande Prairie milk costs $4.68/gallon. The lack of a PST is VERY noticeable when larger items are purchased. I saved over $100 when buying my laptop.
report 11 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Eric Geis on 04/28/2014 at 12:56 AM
I left Cape Breton in 1986 at the age of 23. I was making $3.60 per hour......how sad. No way could I move out on my own and afford it. So shameful to loose all the young people. I have been in Banff Ab since. My dream is to retire in Cape Breton because that is all I can hope for. I have missed all the family events over these last years. And lost many family members, If I had a choice and could live I would be at home. Something has got to change to keep all the young people at home. Foreign workers are not the solution, real Canadians want to come home. The government needs to wake up before it just becomes a grave yard.
report 12 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Nancy Greene-Lazier on 04/26/2014 at 8:34 PM
If NS had lower taxes and less regulation then there would be opportunity and people would stay or move there. High taxes and government control = fewer jobs and less freedom
report 14 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Gord Nickerson on 04/26/2014 at 4:38 PM
I moved to Alberta a week after I graduated High school in 2005. My parents have been asking for me to move back ever since. However I can find a job that I actually enjoy doing and affordable living with no problems here in Alberta.
As much as I love Nova Scotia and like to call it home, theres no way I would move back to end up working 16 hrs a day at michelin or Mcdonalds... No way.
report 15 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Caitlyn Jones on 04/25/2014 at 1:06 PM
Back in 1995 I moved to Alberta, the N.S. government paid my way here. The best move I ever did for my future. But just goes to show you even way back then the government was paying for people to get out. Isn't that sad? The "Underground Economy" I guess has caught up to everyone but sadly will continue because people are being forced to hide income in order to survive. There is something desperately wrong with the government down there!
report 11 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Sharon Robichaud on 04/22/2014 at 4:18 PM
I agree with most things said about Alberta living not being all it's cracked up to be. We tried it and couldnt stomach the illegal housing where you cannot even speak in a regular voice without your downstairs neighbor freaking out at you and having a tantrum because the house is not meant to squish several tenants in it without proper facilities and sound proofing. You pay BC prices for a ghetto shanty. Open racism is indeed a problem there. Our experience was in Red Deer, I cannot say anything about Calgary or Edmonton or the more modern minded areas.
I also agree with what is said about Nova Scotia. We live in the Truro area, a truly horrible town filled with underage single mothers, drug addicts, alcoholics, gamblers, petty criminals, the highly uneducated (functional illiterates) and too many elderly. Town council is a nightmare that kills any all all progress that tries to rear its head. There is not even a transit service here. Finding a physician that didnt get their degree from their home printer or a cracker jack box is impossible. Never mind finding one that speaks proper, understandable english.
The worst part of the province that we are currently experiencing is the way employers treat the employees. Because they know work is hard to come by and bills need to be paid, they pay like garbage and work you to death, expecting cadillac results on a beater pay. Our employer makes the choice to close up due to weather and refuses to pay us for the day. Their choice not ours but we get penalized for it. They treat women here with extreme disrespect and pay us far less then men in the same job, often speaking inappropriately and berating and talking down to us. Anywhere else I have ever been would have resulted in legal action hands down. But we take it and get ill with stress because being hungry and homeless is not an option. The government doesnt protect workers here, they dont give a damn and side with employers who are downright evil here.
Its a shitty province to live, dont move here and make that mistake like we did. Go west or go to Ontario where its far better all around. If we didnt realize how long our house will sit on the market (2+ years in a good area too) we would be gone tomorrow. Good luck finding another sucker to pay the $3120/year property tax bill for streets that are paved half a day after a storm if we are lucky, no streetlights and no reason to pay more then we paid in Toronto for heaven's sake.
I look at slavery throughout history and ask myself what the difference is and I dont see any.
report 23 likes, 21 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tari Anne Kareidis on 04/17/2014 at 11:22 PM
Yeah I was sick of the province catering to old farts instead of giving young people incentive to stay. Yup makes sooo much sense to cater to people who will be 6 feet under the ground within this decade...
report 17 likes, 21 dislikes like dislike
Posted by MizzNyowie on 04/12/2014 at 9:33 AM
Let's cut to the chase here, don't bother with all that bs about making the city beautiful and rapid transit and transparent government. That's all bs. The only people who care about that are retired people. Why do young people, like me, move to other provinces?For work! That's it. Why would I stay in NS and work out of my field for 12 bucks an hour when I can move to another city and make 3 times that working in my field of study. You bring industry to NS you bring people. The end. Do you think people move to Fort McMurray for its beauty? Cut all the bs programs and focus on getting industry into ns and nothing else. People will follow, then taxes dollars will follow, and then you can do all the bs artsy fartsy stuff u want.
report 50 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Eric Purdy on 04/09/2014 at 10:28 PM
As soon as you mentioned more immigrants i cringed. There are enough unemployed Nova scotians, no need formore immigrants. All in all, im glad i left. In nova scotia, you get payed the least, you get taxed the most, and liquor is waaaaaay too expensive. And yes, those are the three things young people are looking at.
report 29 likes, 19 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Ashley Court on 04/08/2014 at 12:54 PM
What we need is to end the government monopoly on the economy. Regulation has crushed life in this province and overtaxation in the rural areas has forced everyone to leave. Massive external immigration will just bring people here who have no ties culturally to nova scotia. What we need are the young people to come home, and the only way to do that is to crush the government.
The other thing that needs to die is the left wing stranglehold on politics. The idea that we can tax ourselves into prosperity is a disgusting joke.
report 24 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Chase Suðrland on 04/07/2014 at 9:43 PM
The best decision I made was move to Calgary from NS in 2010. I make over three times as much as I would have had I stayed. I was always underemployed and underpaid in NS. In Alberta I just keep goin up and up! Hell, even my dating life has been a lot better. I had a hell of a time finding a decent guy worth their salt to date in Halifax. In Calgary I'm surrounded by eligible bachelors!
report 11 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by MizzNyowie on 04/07/2014 at 8:47 PM
My husband is in the Navy, I am a teacher currently on Mat leave, and we are leaving by year's end. As soon as the house sells we are moving myself, and our three children (under the age of 7) to Ontario. He's a Power Engineer, and will be out of the Navy by October. We've tried to make it here, but can't, and it's taken us a year to decide to leave. If you don't think there is a problem with people leaving look at the rural areas that are more than an hour away from Halifax. Nova Scotia's tax base is leaving, because it has shown little to no interest in keeping it here. As for those who think the data is wrong...I hope you're right, but I fear that I am.
report 27 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Crystal Fisher on 04/07/2014 at 4:05 PM
Good riddance NS... I left after working my ass off for many years in struggle town ... I am so much happier since arriving to Montreal.
People who are about progress and growth will always have to leave,,. That town( yes I say town) sucks the drive out of you.
report 20 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Leslie Carvery on 04/07/2014 at 2:09 PM
I also left NS in 1997 to work in the USA. There were no full time nursing jobs so I took a travel position and moved on. I often consider moving back as all my family is there but the pay is no where near what I make here. I love NS and wish the economy was better.
report 11 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tanya Bettencourt on 04/07/2014 at 11:54 AM
The NS goverment just took away the right to strike for health care workers..... as a new nurse with 2 degrees and well over $50,000 in dept even as a nurse my after tax pay gives me enough to make my minimum payments and rent but thats about it... I am seriously considering going west where nurses make more and have better unions working for them.....
report 8 likes, 10 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Kmo on 04/07/2014 at 11:50 AM
I have decided to leave Nova Scotia and even Canada .
The reason is I have a child by a non canadian mother and I have the child here with me and been trying to bring the babies mother here as the baby misses her much. Imagration canada told us the mother could not come here as she would get attached to her baby and not want to leave.the hell with this crap I'm getting out of here! And I had chinese investers wanting to invest in a large facility here that would of made much jobs. The last I heard would take 2 more years to get a snswer on if my baby could see her mom again or not . I like nova scotia .was born here but good bye for good!
report 11 likes, 5 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Dwayne Theriault on 04/07/2014 at 6:40 AM
I am a statistic. I left Nova Scotia in December 2013 for Alberta. I tried operating my own business in NS with little success thanks to over saturation of an unregulated market (photography). I also worked in a commercial studio doing highly technical lighting setups, food styling, product, food, corporate, and artifact photography and was offered $13.00/hr with little hope of reaching $14/hr anytime soon. If I wanted to make $13/hr I would get a job at McDonald's. After putting out resumes for two weeks in Calgary, I landed a job making $300/day plus per diems, and with my own vehicle, $1.10/km mileage. In a month I generally drive almost 6000 km for work. I received on the job training for my work. Why would I stay in Nova Scotia and use my hard earned education to struggle my way through life on a daily basis?? Besides that, companies are shutting down and cutting jobs left right and centre. .. I.e. Michelin cutting 500 good paying jobs in Pictou County. I love Nova Scotia. I love that I am from Nova Scotia. But there is a good chance I will always be from Nova Scotia rather than in Nova Scotia.
report 35 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Peter Young on 04/07/2014 at 1:49 AM
I am from Halifax . Left there in '77 . This has been Nova Scotia since ALWAYS. It is a small place . No real industry to speak of. No major population centres nearby. Harsh winters. It will NEVER be San Francisco or Vancouver (where I am now) . Nova Scotia is a revolving door ...leave when you are young (return during retirement) to places like Alberta , BC , Ontario for the most part business friendly provinces where there are larger cities whose demographics just by their sheer numbers provide more employment and or and natural resource industry ie BC , Alberta and Saskatchewan mining, oil , gas , potash etc which drive mega economies. Seattle has Microsoft and Boeing ..."THATS" what drives their economies and the like are not coming to N.S. anytime soon no matter how many bike lanes you build . Nova Scotia as beautiful a place as it is ...has always been and always will be a hand-out province (Federal transfer payments ) where the main industry is government and the call centres are subsidized . The purse strings of the province are pulled by the politicians and "old money" ie Sobeys, Irving etc. who will do their worst to stave off competition in their little serfdom. Further the population contributes to keeping themselves down by putting NDP and Liberal govts behind the wheel who are self serving and anti-business whom create revenue by taxing employers into oblivion and driving off young workers. The urban hippie mentality of building bicycle lanes, the freakin "arts" and "active public spaces" produces NOTHING. Can this writer be SERIOUS about adding gov't provided services such as "universal, affordable child-care, attracting young families where parents want to continue careers? What if we went all-in on rapid transit and active transportation?" You need BIG economies to pay for freebies and the last time I checked that didnt include people riding bicycles thru the snow for 4 or 5 months of the year playing the violin and painting a seascape. Mr . Flemming must have been asleep during his economics classes and wide awake during "socialist studies" further sounds like he has never spent any real time outside of N.S. (working) except on the internet. I visit back home frequently and can smell the desperation every time . Years before I left they were talking about a proper highway to Yarmouth which still has not happened, also offshore gas which has taken 40 + years to get onshore ....and seems to have contributed little in trickle-down thanks to the Irvings of the world. You want employment ? Put in place development friendly laws and tax structure and attract big resource companies to start fracking and drilling or mining coal again ..... get the wheels of production turning. Anything else are Trotskyite daydreams of unionized baristas........
report 19 likes, 14 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Stephano Muzz Muzzatti on 04/06/2014 at 10:02 PM
Once again The Coast has all the answers. Hmmmm, I'm a hipster and love bicycles, the Arts and not showering, so that must be the solution to everything!
report 9 likes, 17 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Chad Veinotte on 04/06/2014 at 7:08 PM
My partner and I came back to Nova Scotia after living overseas for 40+ years. Biggest mistake that we have ever made. Jobs are few and far between and what jobs there are, pay so poorly, it's not worth getting out of bed in the morning to go to work!.
The cost of living here, the high taxes, the poor service offered in shops and businesses, the general run down appearance of most towns and cities all paint a very poor image of Nova Scotia and what it has to offer people these days. I would never start a business here as there is too much red tape and taxes would kill it at any rate, so why bother. We will stick out the summer, put the house on the market and hope we can sell it so we can move on.
report 19 likes, 4 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Bruce Morrison on 04/06/2014 at 3:37 PM
I built a successful Industrial Control’s Company in Nova Scotia.
First you must understand the Government is not your friend
and neither is the Bank. Far from it !!
First thing to do is, learn how to cut Red Tape.
East Coast people are good people and make great customers !!
report 19 likes, 3 dislikes like dislike
Posted by George Daly on 04/06/2014 at 2:14 PM
I left NS for the north and do not wish to ever live there again! NS is over taxed and the lack of jobs is high too! The lack of progressive thinking in the province and Halifax is very puzzling. Every time there is talk of new structures ( ie a stadium ) a big up roar of don't change follows! Get out of the dark ages and come into the future Halifax! Look at Winnipeg! It has transformed itself into an awesome city that people want to move. Taxes have to lower and more free enterprise has to be nourished. The old guard has to move on so progress can happen ( yes Gloria I am talking about you and your cronies).
report 23 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Ken Cross on 04/05/2014 at 3:40 PM
well yes if you want to work there are jobs here in alberta I agree im from nova scotia and ill tell you people think they can come here and make big money don't get me wrong it happens but there families suffer in the end money isn't everything and the economy here is much higher to live its outrages what it cost for housing and bills and food its not cheap to live here and if I could work and my kids didn't live here I would be home people have the idea that its awesome to move to alberta but its not what its cut out to be sure there are things for families that cost money and lots of it so you move here and get a good job you rack up bills and then like home your laid off or fired because the next nova scotia will move here and take that job its a crazy cycle and don't get into the imigrants that are here working for peanuts and have 3 or 4 jobs to make ends meet or they have 5 families in one home and the fact that you don't even know your neighbours oh this is the best life ever well as far as im concerned nova scotia has more to offer then here you have family and love and if you want it to work and work to do that the economy down there will grow but all these sad stories I hear all the time is sometimes coming from people who claim they want to work come out here get enough stamps for uic and then go back home until there claim runs out and then they are back here some on welfare alberta is not what it cuts out to be
report 9 likes, 9 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Joanne Marie Dentremont on 04/05/2014 at 6:46 AM
I'd also like to add that in my age group 85% of them have left our hometown for Alberta and fly home only on time off or live there perminitly
report 5 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Danielle Tyson on 04/04/2014 at 4:56 PM
Why just Halifax ?
I am a young mother of three and in the city is the last place I'd want to raise my kids- having a large private yard, having animals, growing a garden are things we as a family refuse to trade in.
I'm from Shelburne county and we have nothing here- living from pay to pay is an understatement.
We have went to Alberta twice and returned home for family but if our economy here continues like this we will have no choice but to leave close relatives that have no choice but to stay here.
For family's with children three major things that would keep us here would be
1) Less expensive more flexible child care- I mean if you have two kids in daycare u mid as well stay home because u make 10$ and 8hr shift not to mention daycare hours are mon-fri 730-5 it's hard to get a job here let alone walk into a mon-fri day job.
2) Benifits, the few jobs here that offer them don't pay high enough wages to pay the bills let alone be able to pay the 20% not covered. Not that it matters because majority of moms either can't get a job or it's pointless to.
3) education choices - we have a college. You can be a cca ( which is now flooded with to many workers ) office or business administration
( which I took ) but there are no jobs for it.
Any which way I look at it I love my hometown, I love being close enough to have family dinner every Sunday, swim in the lake in the summer and have a yard ( that's private ) that's big enough for my kids and dog to enjoy
But no matter how much I don't want to leave and no matter how much I don't want to live the Alberta life..... I may have to adapt because stable income, benifits, and a healthy life eventually will take presidence over being able to enjoy my family.
report 13 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Danielle Tyson on 04/04/2014 at 4:54 PM
I was born and raised in Nova Scotia. After high school I left to go out west to find some work. I missed home very bad and came back several times hoping I could "make things work", but it never did. I went to college and then University to improve my chances, and came back yet again to "try agian". Nothing worked,because of variuos facts. The lady from England is correct, N.S. is not a business friendly province. People there may seem friendly, but when it comes to getting ahead only "their family matters". You must belong to certain families in N.S.. and even then its a battle within those familes. Now with my own family "out west as they say back home", I visit N.S. from time to time, but I'm glad i'm not raising my children there. There is little future for my home province of Nova Scotia, and it will take a mircle to change that cycle.
report 18 likes, 3 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Dale Sutherland on 04/04/2014 at 1:05 PM
'When the last tree is cut and river poisoned only then will you realize you cannot eat money' ~ Tecumseh
The rocky mountains and rolling foothills of Alberta are my church and Zen. The inner peace and happiness those places bring my soul are slowly being replaced with clear cuts and oil leases. I weep with my ancestors each visit as a bit more of the wilderness out west disappears... forever.
Agreed its harder to carve out a living here in NS, yet careful what you wish for as profit has a cost.
report 26 likes, 6 dislikes like dislike
Posted by UnleashedintheEast on 03/24/2014 at 9:39 AM
I don't want to lead this province, i don't want to be the premier of this province. But if i ever were the premier of this province, i promise that i will do it for free. I see too many people too hard up in this province, and i could not in good conscience accept any wage that would take away from the good folks of this province. I don't want to lead, and you'll have to force me to do it, but if you ever insist that i do that duty; i would. I’d guarantee you'll see changes like never before, and the only people leaving this province would be the career politicians. Quite frankly, they'd hate me, they'd call me a tyrant, a traitor, and just about every other name you can think of. But hey: what goes around comes around.
The only thing i would ask in return is that you provide me with basic room and board in the poorest section of the city, with a small living allowance for food/internet/power/transportation. The only condition i have is that you vote to kick me out at the first sign of trouble, and that i would only have enough in me to do this for 4 years max. When i'm done i'm done: you can keep the pension. Then i'll try to find a job based on what i did, like everyone else.
Thank you.
report 5 likes, 3 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Tim Andrew on 03/21/2014 at 12:34 AM
I asked the author, Dave Fleming, why he included a line about government being transparent and hackable as part of a strategy to attract people to Nova Scotia. His long-form answer is here:
http://www.cpsrenewal.ca/2014/02/hackable-government.html
report 0 likes, 4 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Kent Aitken on 02/04/2014 at 9:14 AM
Just found out my son is leaving for Alberta. My son went to visit his father and had a job in two days. There isn't too much left here for me in Nova Scotia.
report 9 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by dartmouthfran on 02/01/2014 at 6:36 PM
I moved to Nova Scotia from England 11 years ago. I took over an existing tourism business and developed it in a rural area. Over time it has built up very slowly but is sustainable, just. I have taken outside work to make things pay. I have managed to open a second business in the same area and this is taking up the difference in income so I do not have to work outside my own businesses. Nova Scotia is not a business friendly province, it is much easier to succeed outside of the province. I belong to local chambers of commerce and have worked with the community to try and improve matters to retain our young workers.
Nova Scotian's need to be harder on their government to introduce factors in the environment that will fuel the development of industry and jobs. It needs to react now before the population is unrecoverable. It is not all the governments responsibility but others can not make things happen without a strong catalyst and this has to come from the most influential economic factor which is normally the right environment.
I have not given up with Nova Scotia, I am not a native Nova Scotian but I see so much this province has to offer. We just need to get our voice back and make it happen. After all we can not all leave and cut the province away from Canada so lets fix it.
report 26 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Kevin2014 on 12/19/2013 at 1:16 PM
@ pigeon
You are wrong. It's true income tax or consumption tax does not equate to a lower median income in comparisson to other cities. But when you factor in inflation (Nslc raises prices twice a year) as well as the cost of services and property tax our NET income is much lower. The situation is exasperated by the disproportionately high income tax on the middle earners in this province. Central economic planning does not work. Highly progressive taxation is, as we are seeing now, a recipe for depopulation.
report 13 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by John Dunn on 12/18/2013 at 5:06 PM
I know of at least one NS company importing foreign labor rather than hiring native Nova Scotians. In fact, I was displaced by one. Don't see much opportunity in my field, so packed up and left. 360.twizz AT gmail if anybody is interested to hear more.
report 7 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Displaced on 12/17/2013 at 7:47 PM
test
report 1 like, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Displaced on 12/17/2013 at 7:42 PM
Congratulations to David Fleming for making the Wall of Shame at Growth Bias Busted http://www.growthbiasbusted.org/entry/saying-farewell-to-nova-scotia-for-a-reason
report 2 likes, 8 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Dave Gardner on 12/17/2013 at 10:57 AM
*jobs
report 1 like, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by HubbardsBoy on 12/17/2013 at 7:52 AM
I'll come back when the job do. Don't worry, I'll wait.
report 3 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by HubbardsBoy on 12/17/2013 at 7:49 AM
This province needs jobs, if you can find a good job, and can get it elsewhere do it, dont depend on NS to provide it. Because its just not there most of the time and if it is, theres very few openings. This article so far out to lunch, services and expensive transport are not the ways to attract young people. You need jobs! Theres just not enough of them to go around here in NS
How to attract real business? Too much government subsidies, we see those jobs go out the window like RIM, and some of those other call centres. All going under.
Its easier said than done. Need the older generation to retire and open up positions. But we know that Canadians are in financial ruins, and are too laden with debt and some forced to work longer because they have to support their children now. Some of them mismanaged their funds and forced to work now.
report 10 likes, 2 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Christov on 12/16/2013 at 2:31 PM
I just found out I landed a job in Toronto, comes with a $12,000/year bump in pay, benefits and relocation assistance. I stuck it out here for 7 years after coming home to go to school, even started my own company for the last year and a half but enough is enough and I have to face reality that I'll never get ahead if I keep spinning my wheels here. It will be a fun place to visit, the scenery is pretty nice around here.
report 13 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by LIFE IS GREAT on 12/16/2013 at 9:21 AM
I have lived in Alberta for 2 years and there is no way I would ever consider moving home to work unless they match the Alberta pay rates. I’m 22 years old and a welder, I can work anywhere’s in the world and Nova Scotia would be at the bottom of my list. I plan to eventually move back to Cape Breton, after I retire and that would only be seasonal. Why stay in a place where it is a struggle to get by. There is so much more opportunity out here even for the smallest of jobs.
Every time you turn around down there, there’s someone new leaving for a big job in the Mac, or an office job in the cities of Alberta. I keep getting told by friends to move home work at the ship yards and live in Halifax. My answer to them is not going to happen. I can’t stand Halifax to visit, let alone live. I live in Fort McMurray which according to a lot of people it is fort crack, it’s all crack heads, rig pigs, gold diggers and so on. To be honest I would rather live in this town which has become more family oriented in the past 2 years then I will ever see in Halifax.
Where I work they offer flights to about anywhere on a 14/7 rotation. You always get asked where you’re from when you meet new people at a job, and when I say Cape Breton but live in Fort McMurray I get the look of why would you ever move there when you lived in Cape Breton. Especially when there are flights every 2 weeks back home. My reason is; who or what is left in Nova Scotia, especially Cape Breton? I have more family and friends in Fort McMurray then in Nova Scotia right now.
I don’t know all about politics, I get enough headaches being a woman working with men all the time as it is. From what I read on other people’s posts though it’s a huge problem down there. Those politicians need to realize that their province is dying and they better start doing something about it. I love being able to say I grew up in Cape Breton; it obviously helped me be the person I am today. However, now my life is in Alberta and it will be until my career is done with and my family is raised.
Alberta is the land of opportunity; Nova Scotia is a sinking ship.
report 22 likes, 9 dislikes like dislike
Posted by welderchick145 on 12/16/2013 at 3:53 AM
Lack of jobs + crushing student debt is a tough combo, but here are two easy suggestions to give Halifax a better vibe:
1) scrap the NSLC (think of Montreal, all you scaredy-cats)
2) scrap the bike helmet law (umm also think of Montreal)
report 7 likes, 16 dislikes like dislike
Posted by John Thomas on 12/15/2013 at 9:24 PM
I moved home to n.s. after 10 years in b.c. I lasted two years and moved back to b.c. would have left sooner but had to sell my dream home in the valley. N.s. is a run down overtaxed expensive place to live with not much to offer. I still miss it because its home but I will never move back.I could go on but no I'm over it.
report 22 likes, 1 dislike like dislike
Posted by Brianne Chabassol on 12/15/2013 at 8:46 PM
At one time, people in Nova Scotia were very resilient and, at the same time, entrepreneurial in nature.
This has changed over the years.
We have all heard our parents say...."get an education so that you can get a good government job"....or have heard the cry "the government must do something". Both of these attitudes have contributed to our decline.
Of course our tax situation, our red tape burden, our aging population, our low GDP and our slow technological adaptation all contributed as well.
We need to become more entrepreneurial, we need to understand economic and community development and what is required for small business to succeed.
With regret many agencies who are supposed to be stimulating business are failing, because they do not understand business fundamentals.
This current government has a chance to exhibit leadership and implement strategies to turn the province around.
report 20 likes, 0 dislikes like dislike
Posted by Roland McCaffrey on 12/15/2013 at 2:48 PM
Since it doesn’t look as if Quebec is going to do Nova Scotia a favor, Nova Scotians will have to work within the system. However, working with in the system does have certain advantages, such as very large ship building contracts from the feds.
The native people in Canada often categorize their history as before and after contact with the Whites. Let’s look at Nova Scotia's history like that.
Before contact with Canada, Nova Scotia had a thriving coastal trade as far south as the Caribbean that was built on breaking bulk in Halifax. Rails from Sydney were transported to Africa and India on wind powered ships. There were hundreds of small industries like Sunlight soap and Lowney’s chocolate that has substantial payrolls.
After contact, high Canadian exports tariffs killed the coast trade and shippers were obliged to rely on meager pickings from servicing ice bound Montreal and Toronto. Then the Upper and Lower Canadians started out transferring. Steel mills in Hamilton stripped Sydney of skilled labor and contracts. Sherbrook took Lowney’s and more recently, Longueil took the Canso muffler factory.
What could Nova’s do to bring about a Restoration and stem the population drain? Other locations have fought back against similar conditions by producing heavily branded, specialty goods. Look at: Briar pipes, Scotch, Irish Cream, Mont Blanc, Ferrari, Egyptian cotton and Russian caviar.
Comments