By Ariyana Gomes, NLWIC PR Specialist – Future Skills Centre Special Projects
What makes people choose not just to arrive, but to stay?
That question shaped our work on researching newcomer retention across the Burin Peninsula, a rural region on the south coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The result that emerged was not a story about communities needing to learn how to welcome newcomers. In most towns of this Peninsula, that work is already deeply embedded in everyday life.
Across communities such as Marystown, Parker’s Cove, Rushoon, St. Bernard’s and Terrenceville, we heard about residents opening their homes, sharing knowledge, helping newcomers navigate their new lives and forming lasting bonds.
Many of the new immigrants we spoke with described local residents as becoming like family. Cultural exchange has also become a meaningful part of community life. For example, local residents often attend cultural programs, share food and celebrations, and participate in the traditions newcomers bring with them. At the same time, newcomers in the Burin Peninsula are becoming active participants in their surrounding communities they now call home.
The Burin Peninsula does not need to be taught how to welcome newcomers. Its communities are already demonstrating what a genuine welcome can look like.
But belonging, while fundamental, is only one part of retention.
The conditions for staying
Our NLWIC conversations throughout the Future Skills Centre-funded Welcoming Communities-Burin Peninsula Project also revealed the practical realities that can shape whether a newcomer who arrives today can still call the town home ten years from now.
Employment sits at the center of that equation. Rural communities may have employment opportunities, but those opportunities do not always correspond with the education, specialized skills or professional experience newcomers bring with them.
A newcomer with a background in engineering or data science, for example, or another specialized field may find employment in retail or food service simply because those are the opportunities available locally. For some, that may be a satisfactory path. For others, it can result in underemployment, limited professional growth and difficult decisions about the future.
Other conditions matter too. Housing, transportation, health care and access to services all influence a newcomer’s ability to establish stability and put down roots. These challenges are not unique to newcomers, but newcomers can encounter additional barriers as they learn unfamiliar systems, establish support networks and navigate life in a new community.
This is where the conversation about newcomer retention becomes broader than immigration. It is also a workforce development issue. When newcomers cannot find work that fairly reflects their skills, communities are left with a valuable, skilled labour pool who are not adequately contributing to the local workforce. At the same time, employers in such regions may continue to face labour shortages when the skills and experience available in the local pool misalign with the positions that need to be filled.
Looking at newcomer retention through a wider lens shifts the focus from simply attracting people to creating the conditions that allow them to build a life and remain part of the place they have chosen to call home.
The chapter beyond welcome
The research conducted through the Welcoming Communities project points to an opportunity to build on what rural communities are already doing well while strengthening the conditions that make long-term settlement possible.
This does not necessarily mean creating another standalone program. It means bringing existing strengths, relationships and resources into closer alignment, and therefore addressing the structural conditions and barriers that influence whether newcomers can build secure and fulfilling lives.
The proposed sustainable newcomer retention model for the Burin Peninsula is grounded in this very approach. It recognizes the strength that already exists within the region and seeks to reinforce the connections between newcomers, employers, community organizations, municipalities and service providers.
A genuine welcome can create belonging. But belonging needs opportunity, stability and connection to become lasting.
