Settling on Nova Scotia: Exploring the Meaning of Home after Relocating During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Since 2016, Nova Scotia has experienced an upswing in migration to the province after decades of out-migration. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this phenomenon, with an estimated population growth of over 20,000 people to Nova Scotia from provinces outside of Atlantic Canada between 2022 and 2023 (Statistics Canada, Table 17). Based on theories of place and migration, this study seeks to answer the question “how have people navigated their changing sense of home since moving to Nova Scotia during the Covid-19 pandemic?” In doing so, this study serves to gain a better understanding of why this trend in migration has occurred and what the experience of those who moved to the province has been like. Through a qualitative analysis of seven semi-structured interviews, this study finds that migrating was a response to changes already occurring to one’s sense of home rather than the other way around, and that Nova Scotia presented itself as a uniquely appealing place to find community. These findings are interpreted in the context of wider narratives of place, and with an eye to concerns about Nova Scotian identity.