\n<\/p>\n
Suddenly, a historically have-not province has it all <\/p>\n
Author of the article:<\/p>\n
Joe O’Connor<\/span> <\/div>\n\nPublishing date:<\/p>\n Mar 25, 2021<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 20\u00a0hours ago<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 8 minute read<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <\/svg><\/span> 17 Comments <\/span> <\/div><\/div>\n<\/picture>Some of the natural spoils of New Brunswick, highlighted in the province’s Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAnnick Robichaud Butland answered the phone after two rings, and reassured a rather startled caller from Ontario that getting an actual human being on the line after dialing a 1-800 government number in New Brunswick was the \u201cMaritime way.\u201d<\/p>\nTurns out, Butland, in her role as a provincial outreach coordinator attached to the province\u2019s Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign, has been answering a lot of calls from Ontario and points across Canada over the past week or so.<\/p>\nThe clever push, conceived by several local economic development agencies and promoted on social media, includes a website aimed at all the poor young suckers \u2014 and you know who you are \u2014 currently marooned in overheated big city housing markets.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re talking about both those grinding away paycheque to paycheque to pay down the mortgage and those unable to afford a place \u2014 period \u2014 all now working remotely, weary of lockdowns and perhaps itching for change, which is smack where New Brunswick\u2019s campaign hits them.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nCue the site\u2019s 29-second teaser video with a groovy soundtrack and images of a hiker peering out to sea; a camper tossing bacon into a skillet; and paddle boarders on a calm-as-glass river with nothing around them, but nature\u2019s abundant glory.<\/p>\nBliss.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign aims at young big city dwellers working remotely, weary of lockdowns and perhaps itching for change.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn cold hard text further down the page, the statistics: homes in parts of New Brunswick are 77 per cent cheaper than the million-dollar average in Toronto, a savings of $865,200, according to the site. Compared to Vancouver, the buy-in-NB discount is 81 per cent ($1,033,700); in Calgary, it is 53 per cent ($411,700); and in Montreal, 56 per cent ($441,979).<\/p>\n\nPeople are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and some without ever having set foot in the Maritimes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe campaign launched March 14. By day three, Butland and friends had already fielded more than 200 inquiries, and most of the callers, she said, had already done their \u201cresearch.\u201d But her phone isn\u2019t the only one ringing. Pam Doak, a Fredericton-based realtor with 34 years of experience, said 50 per cent of her calls during the past year have been from people in Ontario.<\/p>\nPeople are more than just interested; they\u2019ve been making the move. One prominent new resident is hip-hop icon Maestro Fresh Wes, who pulled up stakes in Toronto during the pandemic and now happily lives near the Bay of Fundy.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d Doak said of the seismic uptick in interest.<\/p>\nNeither has New Brunswick. But that was before the pandemic sparked a shift in how people work, and how they viewed their lot in life. Suddenly, a historically have-not province has it all: Affordable homes, no traffic, ocean vistas, national parks, art galleries, restaurants, universities, bilingualism, work-life balance, super-friendly people, practically no COVID-19 cases and, coming in April, an Atlantic provinces travel bubble 2.0 to look forward to.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n<\/picture>\n Move over GameStop, hockey cards are emerging as the hottest bull market on the planet <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n Atlantic Canada is the next land of opportunity (even if the rest of Canada doesn\u2019t know it yet) <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n A tiny software company in Saint John may hold the key to getting fans back to NHL arenas <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\nIn February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\nBut the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Publishing date:<\/p>\n
Mar 25, 2021<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 20\u00a0hours ago<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 8 minute read<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <\/svg><\/span> 17 Comments <\/span> <\/div><\/div>\n<\/picture>Some of the natural spoils of New Brunswick, highlighted in the province’s Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAnnick Robichaud Butland answered the phone after two rings, and reassured a rather startled caller from Ontario that getting an actual human being on the line after dialing a 1-800 government number in New Brunswick was the \u201cMaritime way.\u201d<\/p>\nTurns out, Butland, in her role as a provincial outreach coordinator attached to the province\u2019s Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign, has been answering a lot of calls from Ontario and points across Canada over the past week or so.<\/p>\nThe clever push, conceived by several local economic development agencies and promoted on social media, includes a website aimed at all the poor young suckers \u2014 and you know who you are \u2014 currently marooned in overheated big city housing markets.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re talking about both those grinding away paycheque to paycheque to pay down the mortgage and those unable to afford a place \u2014 period \u2014 all now working remotely, weary of lockdowns and perhaps itching for change, which is smack where New Brunswick\u2019s campaign hits them.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nCue the site\u2019s 29-second teaser video with a groovy soundtrack and images of a hiker peering out to sea; a camper tossing bacon into a skillet; and paddle boarders on a calm-as-glass river with nothing around them, but nature\u2019s abundant glory.<\/p>\nBliss.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign aims at young big city dwellers working remotely, weary of lockdowns and perhaps itching for change.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn cold hard text further down the page, the statistics: homes in parts of New Brunswick are 77 per cent cheaper than the million-dollar average in Toronto, a savings of $865,200, according to the site. Compared to Vancouver, the buy-in-NB discount is 81 per cent ($1,033,700); in Calgary, it is 53 per cent ($411,700); and in Montreal, 56 per cent ($441,979).<\/p>\n\nPeople are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and some without ever having set foot in the Maritimes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe campaign launched March 14. By day three, Butland and friends had already fielded more than 200 inquiries, and most of the callers, she said, had already done their \u201cresearch.\u201d But her phone isn\u2019t the only one ringing. Pam Doak, a Fredericton-based realtor with 34 years of experience, said 50 per cent of her calls during the past year have been from people in Ontario.<\/p>\nPeople are more than just interested; they\u2019ve been making the move. One prominent new resident is hip-hop icon Maestro Fresh Wes, who pulled up stakes in Toronto during the pandemic and now happily lives near the Bay of Fundy.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d Doak said of the seismic uptick in interest.<\/p>\nNeither has New Brunswick. But that was before the pandemic sparked a shift in how people work, and how they viewed their lot in life. Suddenly, a historically have-not province has it all: Affordable homes, no traffic, ocean vistas, national parks, art galleries, restaurants, universities, bilingualism, work-life balance, super-friendly people, practically no COVID-19 cases and, coming in April, an Atlantic provinces travel bubble 2.0 to look forward to.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n<\/picture>\n Move over GameStop, hockey cards are emerging as the hottest bull market on the planet <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n Atlantic Canada is the next land of opportunity (even if the rest of Canada doesn\u2019t know it yet) <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n A tiny software company in Saint John may hold the key to getting fans back to NHL arenas <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\nIn February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\nBut the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Annick Robichaud Butland answered the phone after two rings, and reassured a rather startled caller from Ontario that getting an actual human being on the line after dialing a 1-800 government number in New Brunswick was the \u201cMaritime way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turns out, Butland, in her role as a provincial outreach coordinator attached to the province\u2019s Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign, has been answering a lot of calls from Ontario and points across Canada over the past week or so.<\/p>\n
The clever push, conceived by several local economic development agencies and promoted on social media, includes a website aimed at all the poor young suckers \u2014 and you know who you are \u2014 currently marooned in overheated big city housing markets.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re talking about both those grinding away paycheque to paycheque to pay down the mortgage and those unable to afford a place \u2014 period \u2014 all now working remotely, weary of lockdowns and perhaps itching for change, which is smack where New Brunswick\u2019s campaign hits them.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nCue the site\u2019s 29-second teaser video with a groovy soundtrack and images of a hiker peering out to sea; a camper tossing bacon into a skillet; and paddle boarders on a calm-as-glass river with nothing around them, but nature\u2019s abundant glory.<\/p>\nBliss.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign aims at young big city dwellers working remotely, weary of lockdowns and perhaps itching for change.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn cold hard text further down the page, the statistics: homes in parts of New Brunswick are 77 per cent cheaper than the million-dollar average in Toronto, a savings of $865,200, according to the site. Compared to Vancouver, the buy-in-NB discount is 81 per cent ($1,033,700); in Calgary, it is 53 per cent ($411,700); and in Montreal, 56 per cent ($441,979).<\/p>\n\nPeople are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and some without ever having set foot in the Maritimes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe campaign launched March 14. By day three, Butland and friends had already fielded more than 200 inquiries, and most of the callers, she said, had already done their \u201cresearch.\u201d But her phone isn\u2019t the only one ringing. Pam Doak, a Fredericton-based realtor with 34 years of experience, said 50 per cent of her calls during the past year have been from people in Ontario.<\/p>\nPeople are more than just interested; they\u2019ve been making the move. One prominent new resident is hip-hop icon Maestro Fresh Wes, who pulled up stakes in Toronto during the pandemic and now happily lives near the Bay of Fundy.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d Doak said of the seismic uptick in interest.<\/p>\nNeither has New Brunswick. But that was before the pandemic sparked a shift in how people work, and how they viewed their lot in life. Suddenly, a historically have-not province has it all: Affordable homes, no traffic, ocean vistas, national parks, art galleries, restaurants, universities, bilingualism, work-life balance, super-friendly people, practically no COVID-19 cases and, coming in April, an Atlantic provinces travel bubble 2.0 to look forward to.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n<\/picture>\n Move over GameStop, hockey cards are emerging as the hottest bull market on the planet <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n Atlantic Canada is the next land of opportunity (even if the rest of Canada doesn\u2019t know it yet) <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n A tiny software company in Saint John may hold the key to getting fans back to NHL arenas <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\nIn February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\nBut the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Cue the site\u2019s 29-second teaser video with a groovy soundtrack and images of a hiker peering out to sea; a camper tossing bacon into a skillet; and paddle boarders on a calm-as-glass river with nothing around them, but nature\u2019s abundant glory.<\/p>\n
Bliss.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign aims at young big city dwellers working remotely, weary of lockdowns and perhaps itching for change.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn cold hard text further down the page, the statistics: homes in parts of New Brunswick are 77 per cent cheaper than the million-dollar average in Toronto, a savings of $865,200, according to the site. Compared to Vancouver, the buy-in-NB discount is 81 per cent ($1,033,700); in Calgary, it is 53 per cent ($411,700); and in Montreal, 56 per cent ($441,979).<\/p>\n\nPeople are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and some without ever having set foot in the Maritimes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe campaign launched March 14. By day three, Butland and friends had already fielded more than 200 inquiries, and most of the callers, she said, had already done their \u201cresearch.\u201d But her phone isn\u2019t the only one ringing. Pam Doak, a Fredericton-based realtor with 34 years of experience, said 50 per cent of her calls during the past year have been from people in Ontario.<\/p>\nPeople are more than just interested; they\u2019ve been making the move. One prominent new resident is hip-hop icon Maestro Fresh Wes, who pulled up stakes in Toronto during the pandemic and now happily lives near the Bay of Fundy.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d Doak said of the seismic uptick in interest.<\/p>\nNeither has New Brunswick. But that was before the pandemic sparked a shift in how people work, and how they viewed their lot in life. Suddenly, a historically have-not province has it all: Affordable homes, no traffic, ocean vistas, national parks, art galleries, restaurants, universities, bilingualism, work-life balance, super-friendly people, practically no COVID-19 cases and, coming in April, an Atlantic provinces travel bubble 2.0 to look forward to.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n<\/picture>\n Move over GameStop, hockey cards are emerging as the hottest bull market on the planet <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n Atlantic Canada is the next land of opportunity (even if the rest of Canada doesn\u2019t know it yet) <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n A tiny software company in Saint John may hold the key to getting fans back to NHL arenas <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\nIn February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\nBut the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
In cold hard text further down the page, the statistics: homes in parts of New Brunswick are 77 per cent cheaper than the million-dollar average in Toronto, a savings of $865,200, according to the site. Compared to Vancouver, the buy-in-NB discount is 81 per cent ($1,033,700); in Calgary, it is 53 per cent ($411,700); and in Montreal, 56 per cent ($441,979).<\/p>\n
\nPeople are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and some without ever having set foot in the Maritimes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe campaign launched March 14. By day three, Butland and friends had already fielded more than 200 inquiries, and most of the callers, she said, had already done their \u201cresearch.\u201d But her phone isn\u2019t the only one ringing. Pam Doak, a Fredericton-based realtor with 34 years of experience, said 50 per cent of her calls during the past year have been from people in Ontario.<\/p>\nPeople are more than just interested; they\u2019ve been making the move. One prominent new resident is hip-hop icon Maestro Fresh Wes, who pulled up stakes in Toronto during the pandemic and now happily lives near the Bay of Fundy.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d Doak said of the seismic uptick in interest.<\/p>\nNeither has New Brunswick. But that was before the pandemic sparked a shift in how people work, and how they viewed their lot in life. Suddenly, a historically have-not province has it all: Affordable homes, no traffic, ocean vistas, national parks, art galleries, restaurants, universities, bilingualism, work-life balance, super-friendly people, practically no COVID-19 cases and, coming in April, an Atlantic provinces travel bubble 2.0 to look forward to.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n<\/picture>\n Move over GameStop, hockey cards are emerging as the hottest bull market on the planet <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n Atlantic Canada is the next land of opportunity (even if the rest of Canada doesn\u2019t know it yet) <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n A tiny software company in Saint John may hold the key to getting fans back to NHL arenas <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\nIn February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\nBut the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and some without ever having set foot in the Maritimes<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The campaign launched March 14. By day three, Butland and friends had already fielded more than 200 inquiries, and most of the callers, she said, had already done their \u201cresearch.\u201d But her phone isn\u2019t the only one ringing. Pam Doak, a Fredericton-based realtor with 34 years of experience, said 50 per cent of her calls during the past year have been from people in Ontario.<\/p>\n
People are more than just interested; they\u2019ve been making the move. One prominent new resident is hip-hop icon Maestro Fresh Wes, who pulled up stakes in Toronto during the pandemic and now happily lives near the Bay of Fundy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d Doak said of the seismic uptick in interest.<\/p>\n
Neither has New Brunswick. But that was before the pandemic sparked a shift in how people work, and how they viewed their lot in life. Suddenly, a historically have-not province has it all: Affordable homes, no traffic, ocean vistas, national parks, art galleries, restaurants, universities, bilingualism, work-life balance, super-friendly people, practically no COVID-19 cases and, coming in April, an Atlantic provinces travel bubble 2.0 to look forward to.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n<\/picture>\n Move over GameStop, hockey cards are emerging as the hottest bull market on the planet <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n Atlantic Canada is the next land of opportunity (even if the rest of Canada doesn\u2019t know it yet) <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/picture>\n A tiny software company in Saint John may hold the key to getting fans back to NHL arenas <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\nThe housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\nIn February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\nBut the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
<\/section>\nThe housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\nIn February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\nBut the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
The housing market has been \u201cinsane\u201d since last spring, Doak said, and it shows no signs of losing steam. People are buying houses without ever having set foot in them and, in some cases, without ever having set foot in the Maritimes.<\/p>\n
In February, 824 homes were sold in the province, a year-over-year increase of almost 400 per cent. The average sale price year-to-date is $198,472. The market in Fredericton is red hot, Saint John is blazing, Moncton, too.<\/p>\n
But the obvious question, and the one Butland said people keep asking her is: \u201cWhat is it really like there?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/picture> Image from the Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> Photo by Live for the Moment NB marketing campaign.<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\nBut Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s something that Kristine Walker and her husband, Rory, started asking themselves five years ago in Langley, B.C., about a 30-minute drive (without traffic) from downtown Vancouver. Walker, a supply chain management expert, was working, as she describes it, \u201cto pay the mortgage.\u201d Her roundtrip commute could take as long as three hours. Her life, seemingly happy enough on the surface, was utter hell.<\/p>\n
But Walker\u2019s biggest fear was that her two boys would grow up with a mountain backdrop and yet never be able to afford a similar view. She and Rory were B.C. born and raised, but they ditched the West in 2016 in favour of a 4,000-square-foot home \u2014 double what they owned in Langley \u2014 on the opposite side of the country. After selling the Langley place, they pocketed a $400,000 difference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nThey bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\nAs an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cNeither one of us had ever set foot in New Brunswick, outside of the one day I was in Saint John on a cruise,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n
They bought in New Maryland, just outside Fredericton, and, irony of ironies, they recently put the house up for sale after gradually coming to the realization that more space simply meant more dusting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are downsizing,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n
As an early pioneer of the move to New Brunswick movement, Walker speaks with authority and persuasiveness. She found work in her field. She made new friends. She has next to no commute. The kids are happy. In the months since the pandemic struck, she convinced her sister\u2019s family, her mom and her mom\u2019s partner to ditch the housing insanity of B.C. and move east.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom bought a place on the beach in Saint John,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Kristine and Rory Walker, and their boys, Trevor and Brendan. The Walkers moved from B.C. to New Maryland, NB in 2016, making them pioneers of the move East movement.<\/span> Photo by Kristine Walker<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFive years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHeartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Five years after taking the leap, Walker has no regrets, aside from one minor lament: with the time difference, her beloved Vancouver Canucks\u2019 games start right around bedtime.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I do watch the Canucks, sometimes they will pan out and show the harbour, and I\u2019ll find myself missing the highrises, but that\u2019s it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Heartening as Walker\u2019s story of family renewal and salesmanship in support of New Brunswick\u2019s charms are, there is another, more ominous tale that also requires telling; one about a province in a demographic death spiral.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnecdotes aren\u2019t statistics,\u201d Richard Saillant, a Moncton-based economist and public policy consultant said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nAccording to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nIn sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\nUnlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\nThe out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\nMore people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
According to the numbers, about 12,000 New Brunswickers each year turn 65 \u2014 official retirement age \u2014 but only 8,000 or so hit age 15, the official working age. Those are not good numbers for a province looking to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt leaves a gap of about 4,000 workers every year that the domestic labour supply can\u2019t meet,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\n
In sum, New Brunswick is rapidly going grey. Any short-term bump in the number of young people throwing in the towel in Toronto, mid-pandemic, and zeroing in on a new life in, say, Moncton is a \u201cmere blip on New Brunswick\u2019s long-term demographic trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not all bad news. For those younger people who actually take the leap, and who aren\u2019t simply bringing the job they have elsewhere with them, they land in a province looking for skilled workers in information and communications technology, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and aquaculture and more.<\/p>\n
Unlike bygone days, New Brunswick already enjoys annual net gains in inter-provincial migration. Prior to the pandemic crashing the numbers, the province also welcomed about 6,000 immigrants a year.<\/p>\n
The out-of-province transplants are often baby boomers \u2014 yup, more seniors \u2014 but they typically arrive flush with cash after having sold a home in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and points in between.<\/p>\n
More people, especially people with disposable income, boost the local tax base. They also splash cash around the local community and fatten federal transfer payments. Boomers dine out, go to galleries and renovate kitchens. They buy new cars, get involved as volunteers, require doctors and nurses, and, as they near the end of their life\u2019s journey, may need long-term care.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\n\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\nEven the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cOverall, that\u2019s a net positive,\u201d Saillant said.<\/p>\n
Even the oldies can turn out to be goodies, particularly when what they most add to a community is their enthusiasm for the place.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Ed Pavich, right, and his partner, Graeme Johnson moved from Ontario in September, lured by the cheap real estate.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nConsider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\nHe and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\nThey also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Consider Ed Pavich. The 58-year-old banker was, as of March 1, 2020, preparing for a career shift with his employer in Niagara Falls, Ont. But when COVID-19 took hold, plans changed, and he opted for early retirement instead.<\/p>\n
He and his life partner, artist Graeme Johnson, started looking at New Brunswick real estate. Neither had roots in the province. They had visited, though. The people seemed nice and the scenery was pretty, so they got serious and snapped up a four-bedroom Dutch colonial-style house bordering a forest outside Fredericton, with a pool and a barn that is now home to three pet alpacas, Zamir, Opus and Clovis.<\/p>\n
They also have three large dogs and an extra $200,000 in the bank, thanks to the nice, but unremarkable three-bedroom, two-storey house with a small backyard they sold back in Ontario.<\/p>\n
\u201dI feel as though I have always belonged in New Brunswick,\u201d Pavich said.<\/p>\n<\/picture> Their Dutch-style colonial home just outside Fredericton has a barn out back that is home to the couples\u2019 three pet alpacas \u2014 and a pool.<\/span> Photo by Ed Pavich<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\nAdvertisement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
At first, the couple was \u201cfreaked out\u201d by the locals\u2019 friendliness. People are friendly enough in Ontario, but they are not nearly New Brunswick-friendly. Neighbours they had never met offered to do their shopping as they rode out their two-week quarantine in September. Gift baskets magically appeared at the front door, as did dinner invites. New friendships bloomed. People bought into mask-wearing protocols. Social distancing actually seemed cool. Community came first.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\nArticle content<\/h2>\nJohnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\nOf course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\nOwen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\nA household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\nBack in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\nIt is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Johnson is now kicking around the idea of opening a bed and breakfast \u2014 working name: Maritime Mary\u2019s Guesthouse and Alpaca Ranch. Unlike Pavich, he confesses to being a tad homesick. New Brunswick is<\/i> awfully quiet. But as the weather has improved, so have Johnson\u2019s spirits \u2014 further buoyed, no doubt, by their decision to splurge on a vintage Porsche Boxster.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are getting it shipped from Ontario,\u201d Pavich said. \u201cWe have gotten so lucky. Everybody here has been so friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, friendliness and better affordability aren\u2019t exclusive to New Brunswick. Small communities, east, west and central, have been zeroing in on city slickers\u2019 pandemic angst and overpriced housing heartache in an effort to entice them to relocate.<\/p>\n
Owen Sound, Ont., a pretty spot on Georgian Bay a few hours northwest of Toronto, offers newcomers a new pair of plaid work-from-home pyjamas. Kawartha Lakes, to the northeast of the big city, is highlighting its newest famous resident, Erica Ehm.<\/p>\n
A household name among the Gen-X crowd, the ex-Much Music VJ has built a successful digital marketing company and, as a podcaster, has been beavering away from a pretty place on a lake and telling people how great it all is.<\/p>\n
Back in Hopewell Cape, a village on the Bay of Fundy, Annick Robichaud Butland was explaining to her caller from Ontario what New Brunswick is really like. Her kids are older now, but when they were little she would walk them down to where the school bus picked them up and watch the sunrise over the ocean.<\/p>\n
It is a view she never tires of.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to come to New Brunswick for the slower pace and the friendlier lifestyle,\u201d she said. \u201cSo let us know when you come, because we\u2019d love to show you around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Email: joconnor@nationalpost.com | Twitter: oconnorwrites<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\nShare this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTop Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\nSign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n\nThanks for signing up!<\/h2>\nA welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\nThe next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n
A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\n
The next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n