A Survey of Selected Presentations of the Conference on Immigration and Outmigration : Atlantic Canada at a Crossroads.

The article summarizes major themes and issues discussed at a conference organized by the economics domain of the Atlantic Metropolis Atlantique on immigration and out-migration, in Halifax, Nova Scotia in mid-November, 2004. A plenary panel of three speakers opened the conference, providing some background information on attracting and retaining immigrants. Barry Chiswick from University of Illinois summarized his research on economic factors and linguistic concentrations. Don De Voretz of Simon Fraser University addressed the issue of immigrant retention in terms of a brain circulation model, under which immigrants enter a niche area where they receive subsidized human capital in the form of education, language training, and skill certification.