During a debate-style event on Monday organized by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said immigrants' chances at success are threatened in a province that is without adequate health care, education and housing infrastructure.

"I'm from an immigrant family -- third generation Lebanese. My family was able to thrive here because we had a house. We had the health-care system we needed. And our schools were there," he told the business crowd, one week ahead of the Nov. 26 election.

"It is not a pro-immigration strategy to have population growth targets that exceed our capacity when we all know that we're bursting at the seams," Churchill said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston, who is running for a second term as premier, has set a target of doubling Nova Scotia's population to two million people by 2060.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, a number that Churchill says exceeded the immigration department's targets by 4,000 people.

Churchill accused Houston of treating immigrants as a source of revenue for the province, which he said "is not right."

"The only reason we have been growing revenue and our economy is based on population growth. That's not good," Churchill said.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said she is also concerned that immigrants are being set up to struggle because of the difficulties in accessing health care and finding an affordable home.

Houston, she said, "likes to talk about the challenges of growth and a plan -- but the plan isn't working. We don't see the homes and hospitals and schools and health-care workers and doctor clinics that we need to address the growth that we're seeing."

Houston acknowledged that the province is facing struggles related to population growth, but countered that the situation is better than the alternative.

In the past, "we've seen challenges of decline in this province. When we were depopulating, and schools were closing, and businesses were closing -- we've seen that. As premier, I accept the challenges of growth."

The Tory leader said the province has set up "really strategic" immigration streams, with a focus on newcomers who will work in health care or in skilled trades.

Regarding his opponents' criticism about the lack of affordable housing in the province, Houston repeated his assertion that "the solution to the housing crisis is more housing," and defended his government's record on increasing supply.

"We're on a good path. We have a plan. The plan is working," Houston said, adding that the government has been making progress on its target announced in 2023 of building 40,000 new homes over four years.

Chender countered that while new homes are being built, their cost puts them out of reach to most Nova Scotians.

"I knock on doors from one end of this province to the other, and people say, 'Yes, there's towers going up. No, I can't live there. I can't afford it. My kids can't afford it. My parents can't afford it,'" she said.

The NDP has pledged to build 30,000 new affordable rental units by working with non-profits and co-op housing providers. Instead of "constantly fighting with Ottawa," she said, an NDP government would build homes by "leveraging federal funding."

The three leaders also sparred over health care, with the NDP and Liberals pointing out that the province's family doctor wait-list has doubled to 145,000 people since Houston's Tories took government in August 2021. That number, however, is down from a record 160,234 people in June.

Churchill said that despite skyrocketing spending on health care, "outcomes that matter keep getting worse and worse and worse."

"Talk to a doctor you know, talk to a nurse you know. Talk to a patent who's been in an emergency room or someone who can't get a family doctor. Ask them if they think the health-care system's getting better."

Houston defended his record, saying "the needle is moving" on health care, with almost 2,000 more nurses in the province compared to 2021, and that he's particularly proud of his government's tax credit for IVF treatment and his campaign promise of establishing a menopause clinic.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.