DataNB
The latest from the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training
Ignite Student Spotlight: Meet the Students Conducting an Economic Analysis of the Fredericton Capital Region
Yara Bayoumi, Ivy Bialowas, Estefania Martinez
Posted: November 13, 2023 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Pathways to Professions , Partners , Student Spotlights , Population Research , Media , Economics , Training
Economic development is a key focus for researchers in New Brunswick, and this led NB-IRDT to partner with Ignite in 2023 to provide our Pathways to Professions (P2P) students with a key new experiential learning opportunity. For 13 weeks this summer, the 2023 Ignite student team worked under the mentorship of Andrew Lockhart (Director of Economic & Entrepreneurial Growth at Ignite) to develop an economic analysis of the Fredericton Capital Region. Since its regionalization in early 2023, the...
From Classroom to Career: Analyzing the Earnings of NBCC Graduates
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: June 14, 2023 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Population Research , Education
Researchers at NB-IRDT are busy producing a new report series with the aim of building a comprehensive body of work on New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) students and graduates. The first report (released May 2023) looked at the mobility and retention of NBCC graduates. It found that most New Brunswickers who attended NBCC study at campuses near their hometowns – but whether they studied locally or moved across the province to attend NBCC, the majority of graduates are likely to...
Graduate Retention in New Brunswick: Supplementary Report on Graduates in Social Work
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: May 26, 2023 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Population Research , Education
Social workers and community service workers provide access to social services, address broad social issues and help individuals in their pursuit for well-being. They help with life’s most difficult moments – when help is needed most. Between an aging population, economic hardship and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Brunswickers have faced some incredible challenges. Without a doubt, social workers have played an integral role in supporting us through these trying...
Where are NBCC Graduates Going?
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: April 28, 2023 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Education , Population Research
Here in New Brunswick, we often hear about young workers eager to move away to other provinces for economic benefit. However, we don’t often hear about where young people who choose to stay in NB end up after graduation and what factors influence their decision. A recent report by NB-IRDT researchers, Retention and Mobility of NBCC Graduates, takes an in-depth look at New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) graduates and where they end up. Recent reports by NB-IRDT show that the...
Exploring the Dynamics of Population Movement in New Brunswick
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: April 13, 2023 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Population Research
New Brunswick is a province that has been experiencing a remarkable transformation over the past few years, with many changes taking place that are reshaping the landscape of this vibrant region. One of the most notable developments is the surge in population that has taken place here, with more and more people flocking to the province to make it their home. NB-IRDT has been closely tracking this trend, and their latest report is nothing short of fascinating. According to updated findings,...
Filling in the Gaps for Canada’s Aging Veterans
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: February 27, 2023 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Seniors , Population Research , Health
When it comes to sources of Veteran data in Canada, the primary resource has been Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC). However, this data may be limited; it is estimated that Veterans using VAC services only account for 19% of Canada’s Veteran population. Furthermore, most of the data from VAC comes from Veterans released from service after 1998, leaving a gap in the data for older veterans. NB-IRDT Research Associate Dr. Sandra Magalhaes is part of a team of researchers working on...
Profiling the Francophone Population in Greater Saint John
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: February 9, 2023 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Population Research
Every New Brunswickers has the right to receive healthcare in the official language of their choice. However, for Francophones living in majority Anglophone areas, practical challenges can make it difficult to access services in French. Communication barriers in healthcare are a serious issue that can negatively impact access to care, patients’ health outcomes, and overall patient satisfaction. Just how many Francophones in NB are impacted by these barriers? Researchers at NB-IRDT...
A Look at New Brunswick’s Returning Graduates
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: February 8, 2023 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Population Research , Education
New Brunswickers love their province’s universities and colleges – so much so that, in a given year, approximately 80% of New Brunswick residents in pursuit of a post-secondary education choose to stay and study in New Brunswick. But, what about the other 20%? Where do they go? And do they come back after they graduate? NB-IRDT researchers explore these questions in our most recent report: Post-secondary graduates’ province of study, post-graduation residence in New...
How Many New Brunswickers are Leaving After Graduation? NB-IRDT's 2019-2020 Update on Graduate Retention
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: January 30, 2023 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Population Research , Education
When you hear about recent graduates here in New Brunswick (NB), the dominant narrative always seems to be that students are eager to get out of NB to find better jobs and make more money elsewhere. But is this actually the case? As a part of an ongoing five-year agreement with the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL), researchers at NB-IRDT have taken a deeper look to see if students really are leaving NB after they graduate. By combining linked data from the...
Canadian Press Interviews NB-IRDT Director for His Thoughts on Immigration
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: January 17, 2023 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Media , Population Research
Immigration has been a hot topic of political discourse for years now in Canada. And following recently announced immigration targets, the conversation concerning immigration has been reignited. 2022 marked a record year for Canada, welcoming 431, 645 new permanent residents. New targets seek to raise this number to 500,000 new immigrants by 2025. As questions surrounding immigration persist, experts and political leaders will continue to rely on work done by researchers to inform their...
CCA Appoints Expert Panel on Health Data Sharing in Canada
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: June 30, 2022 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Datasets , Media , Population Research , Evidence-based Policy , Partners
“Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes.” - Peter Senge The sharing of health data has positively impacted the Canadian health care system and saved countless lives. Recently, responding to a request from the Public Health Agency of...
What Do New Brunswickers Do After They Leave High School?
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: June 3, 2022 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Media , Labour Markets , Education , Population Research , Youth
What Do New Brunswickers Do After They Leave High School? An education is said to be one of the most valuable assets a person can achieve, and pursuing post-secondary education is one of many ways young students can invest in their futures. However, we ask, are some young people more likely to transition to higher education than others? Are certain New Brunswickers more likely to enrol in post-secondary education after graduating from high school? And could differences in post-secondary...
Manufacturing Employment in New Brunswick
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: February 2, 2022 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Media , Labour Markets , Population Research , Economics
There is a narrative in New Brunswick that our province is falling further and further behind the rest of Canada in terms of economic and population growth, and “catching up” is a nearly impossible task to accomplish. Fortunately, this narrative is not entirely true. To promote progress and prosperity in the province, it is important to not only examine our weaknesses but also to better understand our strengths. The more we know about NB’s successes, the more likely we are...
NB-IRDT Partners with Under One Sky to study the impact of the Aboriginal Head Start Program
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: January 26, 2022 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Population Research , Media
Under One Sky is a registered non-profit organization and one of over 100 Friendship Centres in Canada. Located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Under One Sky is a vibrant and caring community hub that aims to empower a healthy and proud Indigenous community through the programs and services it offers. The Under One Sky Aboriginal Head Start (AHS) program is the focus of the centre’s new partnership with NB-IRDT. This partnership is being facilitated by Dr. Jason Hickey in UNB’s...
NB-IRDT Releases First Report in New Population Snapshot Series
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: December 13, 2021 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Media , Population Research
Since its establishment, the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training has been focusing on different aspects of the province’s changing population. From projects on immigration, graduation, employment, retention, and more, we have examined implications and potential solutions to a rapidly aging and migrating population. Now, in a new report series, our researchers are providing bi-annual population snapshots that capture changes and movements in the New Brunswick...
Student Spotlight: Meet the PopNB Team
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: November 4, 2021 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Population Research
Population New Brunswick (PopNB) is a student research stream in the Pathways to Professions experiential learning program at NB-IRDT. Launched in 2020, PopNB describes various population demographics and identifies crucial trends that impact the economy and well-being of New Brunswickers. This summer, PopNB was comprised of four undergraduate students investigating the recent economic implications of aging in New Brunswick, under the leadership of NB-IRDT Director Dr. Ted...
UNB Students Take Hands-On Approach to Research and Policy in New Brunswick
Bethany Jones
Posted: October 28, 2021 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Population Research , Economics , Education , Health , Training
The end of 2021 is in sight, and as countries around the world begin to emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns, there is a universal air of uncertainty about the future. In New Brunswick, however, this uncertainty predated the pandemic. For the past few years, the province of New Brunswick has been struggling to address the problems of an aging population, the out-migration of its youth, a shrinking labour force, and the impact these issues have on an already overly burdened health care system....
New NB-IRDT Project: Profiling the Francophone Population in Greater Saint John
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: October 6, 2021 12:00:00 AM ADT
Category: Population Research
Every New Brunswickers has the right to receive healthcare in the official language of their choice. However, for Francophones living in majority Anglophone areas, practical challenges can make it difficult to access services in French. Communication barriers in healthcare are a serious issue that can negatively impact access to care, patients’ health outcomes, and overall patient satisfaction. Just how...
Pathways to Professions: Then and Now
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: June 4, 2021 12:00:00 PM ADT
Category: Labour Markets , Population Research
April showers bring May flowers, and the launch of Pathways to Professions – 2021 is our second annual experiential learning program providing UNB students with hands-on workplace experience and training in research methods and job readiness. From May 17 until August 13, we will be virtually hosting a new cohort of undergraduate and graduate students as they complete our curriculum of research and professionalism workshops, presentations, and networking opportunities, while working on...
1 Year of Data Literacy
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: April 6, 2021 12:00:00 PM ADT
Category: Population Research , Datasets
Data Literacy Training Partnership with GNB: One Year Later At NB-IRDT, we believe data is the way of the future. One year ago, we put this belief into practice by partnering with the Government of New Brunswick to develop a data literacy training program for public servants. In April 2020, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council awarded NB-IRDT and GNB a four-year $200,000 Partnership Development Grant. Since then, we’ve been working hard on five initiatives to promote...
Are Post-Secondary Graduates Staying in NB?
NB-IRDT
Posted: March 9, 2021 12:00:00 PM AST
Category: Education , Population Research
College and university graduates are among the most mobile Canadians, and when they relocate, they take their human capital (and potential earnings) with them. New Brunswick invests substantially in educating post-secondary students, but when qualified graduates leave the province, much of that investment is lost. Understanding what kinds of graduates are leaving or staying can help inform targeted policies that encourage graduates to stay and contribute to the local economy, and estimating...
Student Spotlight: Postsecondary Enrolments and Graduate Outcomes
NB-IRDT Staff
Posted: January 14, 2021 12:00:00 PM AST
Category: Education , Population Research
From 2018 to 2027, New Brunswick is projected to have 120,000 job openings across the province, leading to concerns over an impending labour market shortage alongside increasing youth outmigration. Education, however, may offer a solution. Education serves as a vehicle for social and economic progress. Practices such as targeting postsecondary enrolments could help address the impending labour market gap, and evaluating the changes in STEM and non-STEM enrolments could help inform policies to...
Student Spotlight: Immigrant Mobility in New Brunswick
NB-IRDT
Posted: November 27, 2020 12:00:00 PM AST
Category: Pathways to Professions , Population Research , Labour Markets
In New Brunswick, immigration has been identified as a key solution to the province’s slow growing and aging population. However, for the programs and resources spent on attracting individuals to NB to be effective, it is important that the immigrants who arrive in the province stay and contribute to the local economy. A recent NB-IRDT report suggests 50% of Provincial Nominee Program immigrants remain in NB five years after arriving – but how do we know which immigrants are most...
New Brunswick Labour Force Participation
NB-IRDT
Posted: November 2, 2020 12:00:00 PM AST
Category: Economics , Population Research , Youth
The size of a region’s labour force is typically affected by the makeup of the population. In New Brunswick, the general population is aging, while the youth population is shrinking. What could these factors mean for labour force participation in NB? This summer, Pathways to Professions student Thomas Campbell examined labour force participation rates in NB. As part of the BoostNB initiative to measure the province’s progress toward economic goals, he looked at whether NB labour...
Immigrant retention in New Brunswick
NB-IRDT
Posted: October 1, 2020 12:00:00 PM ADT
Category: Population Research
It is no secret that New Brunswick has been facing the problem of an aging, shrinking population for some time now. However, this is a problem with a solution, and the Government of New Brunswick has identified immigration as a key strategy. Through investment in programs like the Provincial Nominee Program, New Brunswick has attracted a growing number of immigrants – but for immigration to effectively boost the population, focus must be placed on immigrant retention. In a 2019 report,...
Public Engagement Seats on Research Committees
NB-IRDT
Posted: September 28, 2020 12:00:00 PM ADT
Category: Population Research
NB-IRDT recognizes that public engagement has a tremendous role to play in research and can lead to significant benefits for everyone involved. Some benefits include: Fresh insights into research Better research questions Greater research impact Improved research quality Increased accountability and transparency of research Increased responsiveness of research to societal needs Opportunity to build trust between researchers and citizens Increased research visibility Developing new...
New Brunswick Farm Population
NB-IRDT
Posted: August 28, 2020 12:00:00 PM ADT
Category: Population Research
The topic of farming in New Brunswick has been growing in importance, and for good reason. A large proportion of NB farmers are nearing retirement, and the number of operating farms in the province is shrinking. Most recently, the onset of COVID-19 highlighted NB’s reliance on temporary foreign workers and food imports, emphasizing the existing strain on agricultural production. These factors and more highlight the need for change to drive a flourishing agricultural sector. However, in...
Pathways to Professions program comes to a close
NB-IRDT
Posted: August 10, 2020 12:00:00 PM ADT
Category: Population Research , Pathways to Professions , Education
At NB-IRDT, we research priority issues in New Brunswick, like outmigration. We also dedicate resources to being part of the solution. This summer marked the inaugural run of our experiential student research program – Pathways to Professions. Through this and other such programs we are investing in the future workforce and future research capacity in New Brunswick. In recent years, New Brunswick has seen many graduates and young workers move to other provinces for career...
Are you a New Brunswick English-speaking male over 19 years experienced in or trying to lose weight?
NB-IRDT
Posted: July 14, 2020 12:00:00 PM ADT
Category: Population Research , Health
The purpose of this study is to determine if text message support assists men who are seeking to lose weight. Previously conducted in the United Kingdom, a research team is now looking to conduct the same study in Canada. One component of the study is a survey. Before launching the survey, however, the research team would like to recruit English-speaking men with experience in trying to lose weight to review the proposed survey questions. As the survey questions were previously used in the...
Busier obstetricians means fewer patient complications
Mara Mallory
Posted: February 3, 2020 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Population Research , Health , Evidence-based Policy
Women undergoing C-sections with lower volume providers or specialists other than obstetricians are at much higher risk of complications Caesarean sections (C-sections) account for approximately 4.9% of all inpatient surgeries in New Brunswick and rates have been rising throughout Canada. NB-IRDT researchers looked at all hospital admissions for C-sections in New Brunswick between April 2004 and March...
Data Access Support Hub launched
Mara Mallory
Posted: February 1, 2020 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Datasets , Partners , Population Research
The Health Data Research Network (HDRN) has launched the Data Access Support Hub (DASH), a one-stop shop for requesting access to data from multiple provincial, territorial and pan-Canadian sources. This initiative is made possible through the through the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR), which is a collection of funding partnerships between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), provinces and territories, philanthropic organizations, academic institutions, and...
Study shows NB library use increasing
Mara Mallory
Posted: January 8, 2020 4:00:00 PM AST
Category: Population Research , Economics
New Brunswickers still love the province’s traditional libraries despite rapid technological and social change over the past decade, according to research from the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data, and Training at the University of New Brunswick. NB-IRDT researchers looked at numbers of active library cards and how many items (both physical and electronic) were checked out from 2010 to 2018. Despite increasing availability of free electronic reading material, inexpensive...
Immigrants as permanent residents
Mara Mallory
Posted: November 7, 2019 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Evidence-based Policy , Economics , Population Research , Labour Markets
It’s easy to track how many immigrants are accepted into a province as permanent residents through immigration programs. It is much harder to keep track of what happens after they arrive. Many New Brunswickers are counting on immigration to help alleviate the economic and social challenges we face as a result of NB’s demographic challenges. For New Brunswick to fully benefit from immigration, we need to dig deeper to understand the immigrant experience once they arrive in our...
Projected New Brunswick population in 2036
Mara Mallory
Posted: November 5, 2019 12:00:00 AM AST
Category: Evidence-based Policy , Population Research
Note: The publications in this post are from 2017 and 2018, before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and the associated migration of residents to New Brunswick. For updated information on provincial numbers, refer to the most current information available from Statistics Canada. In 2017, we published one of the first in-depth examinations of how New Brunswick’s population is expected to change over the coming decades, both in terms of geographic distribution and...