I read an article in the DG where the head of the Fredericton Chamber says:
One aspect is the approval of Fredericton as a census metropolitan area and I know that various organizations in the city, including the chamber and Team Fredericton, are working towards getting that status because that status is more or less an entry point to site selection for larger organizations.
Someone should tell the guy that you don’t work towards the status of being a CMA. You need to have at least 50,000 in the urban core area of the city and 100,000 in the Census Agglomeration area and then you are automatically a CMA. It’s not like other recognitions that you apply for.
From Statistics Canada:
A CA will be promoted to a CMA if it has a total population of at least 100,000, of which 50,000 or more live in the urban core.
At the current rate of population growth, Fredericton is set to become a CMA by 2021.
Now, it is true that the threshold used to be 100,000 in the urban core so it is possible that Fredericton officials are lobbying Statistics Canada to lower the 50,000/100,000 threshold. If anyone has any info on that send it along.
It would be good to have Freddy Beach join the ranks of CMAs in New Brunswick.