The Canadian federal government has issued $10-million to the province of New Brunswick to help the province attract and retain more immigrants from diverse backgrounds.

Over the next four years, the New Brunswick Population Growth Secretariat will be handing out this funding to organizations that provide settlement services to newcomers, or organizations that wish to set up such services.

New Brunswick expects that this federal funding will help improve its immigrant retention rates, which will in turn help the province achieve its economic goals.

"Our government's $10-million investment in this initiative will help ensure that New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada have the bilingual capacity needed to maximize the region's long-term economic potential," said Keith Ashfield, minister of state for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The program will be targeting rural areas that are looking to attract and retain immigrants, as well as initiatives that will help attract more francophone immigrants to Canada’s only fully bilingual province.

"This is another way for the federal government to assist us to continue to maintain that linguistic makeup and improve our attraction and retention rates," said Victor Boudreau, minister responsible for the province's Population Growth Secretariat.