Eighteen new residents have moved into the rural community of Chipman, New Brunswick and a new subdivision is being built to accommodate newcomers.
In the coming years, dozens more are expected to be added to the village’s current population of roughly 1000.
According to a report by CBC News, councilors say it held steady last year because of an influx of skilled workers recruited by J.D. Irving Ltd. from around the globe to its local forestry operations.
“For the first time in many, many years the population has stayed the same,” said Chipman’s deputy mayor Keith West.
He says they’re coming from Ukraine, Latvia, Finland, and Brazil.
“Right now we have about 10 new families from abroad,” said Paul Klassen, Chipman’s Newcomer Settlement Program Coordinator.
According to Klassen and West, workers will be operating in three different capacities for JDI; driving logging trucks, working with logging operations, or working in the Grand Lake Timber mill located in Chipman.
“These are not minimum wage jobs,” said West. “These are good paying jobs. These people are making 60, 70, 80 thousand dollars a year.”
“So, in a small town like Chipman that’s big money,” said West.
West says it’s his understanding that JDI is bringing in as many as 3,000 workers from outside of New Brunswick over the next three years to fill positions in southern New Brunswick because the company cannot find employees locally.
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