New Brunswick population growing slowly

New Brunswick's population is still growing, but at the slowest rate in the country, according to new numbers.

The latest figures from Statistics Canada show the province's population grew by 989 people from July to September.

That brings it close to the government's goal of adding 6,000 people by the end of the year.

"That puts us just under 400 people left to go to achieve that goal of 6,000 by the end of 2009, so certainly [it's] very positive news," said Brendan Langille, spokesman for the province's Population Growth Secretariat.

However, New Brunswick's population is growing at a rate barely one-third the national average. The birth rate is barely keeping ahead of the death rate, and the net gain in interprovincial migration was only 38 people.

That leaves immigration as the only significant source of growth. The problem, said one immigrant, is that services for newcomers and their families are still lacking.

"Most people move here for the well-being of their children, for their future, and if we are not there to offer those services they are not going to stay, because that is the main reason to move to Canada in the first place," said Luisa Montoya.

The Shawn Graham government has set a goal of increasing the population by 100,000 people by 2026.