This great news story interview shares about the wonderful contributions of our community volunteers and SLDA's Welcoming Communities Strategy Project. Please take a moment to review a recent interview with Andrea McGuire with CBC's Labrador Morning and CBC NL.
CBC NL Link to the full story and great photos
Story text content:
"Facing population decline, Labrador Straits group rolls out the welcome mat
Volunteers have delivered 115 welcome kits since 2022"
Andrea McGuire · CBC · Posted: Sep 02, 2025 6:00 AM NDT | Last Updated: September 2
Dandelion jelly. Hand-knit socks. A free haircut at a local salon.
Plus medical travel resources, emergency information, local business brochures, and a whole lot more — all tied up with ribbon and delivered to your doorstep, complete with a cheery welcome note.
Since 2022, volunteers in the Labrador Straits have packaged and delivered these homemade welcome kits to anyone new in the region. The project is a cornerstone of the Labrador Straits Welcoming Communities Strategy, which was run by the Southern Labrador Development Association over the last two years.
Program manager Roseann Linstead said the group has put together about 115 welcome kits so far.
"It just makes you feel really good when you deliver those welcome kits because people aren't expecting anything," she said. "And this is a little welcome mat to the Labrador Straits."
Volunteers in the Labrador Straits knit handmade socks for the Welcoming Communities Strategy welcome kits. (Andrea McGuire/CBC)
About 1,650 people live in the eight main communities in the Labrador Straits, according to the most recent data from Statistics Canada. The 2021 census also showed a population decline in most communities since 2016.
"We've definitely got an aging population in this area," said L'Anse Amour resident Lisa Davis-Ryland, who volunteers with the welcome kit program.
"A lot of the service industry right now, they're struggling with employees. So we've got workers coming in from outside and like anywhere, you know, when they come into a new area, you want them to feel a part of it and you hope that they stay."
A returning resident herself, Linstead moved home to the Straits in 2020, after living away for 30 years. She said leading the strategy changed her view of what it means, exactly, to be welcoming.
"When we started it was like 'OK, how do we make our communities more welcoming?' Like jeez, I thought, you know, we're quite welcoming here. You know, you open your front door, come on in, have a cup of tea, have a chat — you chat with anyone," she said. "But it's just different things that we learned."
Roseann Linstead has been the program manager of the Labrador Straits Welcoming Communities Strategy for the last two years. (Andrea McGuire/CBC)
For Linstead and her team, the idea of "welcoming communities" isn't an attitude or a state of mind, it truly is a strategy. Beyond the welcome kit project, Linstead has worked diligently to connect with newcomers, tourists, former residents and more.
This past winter, the organization ran a "Labradorians Beyond Their Home" campaign, asking former residents about barriers preventing a move back to the Straits, whether they'd like to stay in touch about future job opportunities and what else could be done to lure them home.
For the past three summers, they've hired a summer student to do outreach aboard the Qajaq W. ferry, travelling between St. Barbe and Blanc Sablon multiple times a week.
Linstead said their website has also become a hub for community events, jobs and accommodations in the region.
"We're very interconnected with all the volunteer groups and organizations," said Linstead.
The power of a warm welcome. Still, there's no doubt about it — the welcome kits are at the heart of the strategy. And they certainly leave an impression.
"It's amazing. It just makes you feel part of the community, just to get a present and somebody to come by and visit," said Sandra Hancock. She and her husband, David, just recently moved home to Forteau from Fort McMurray, Alta.
Wel Batonghinog, a gas station employee originally from the Philippines, said it meant a lot to receive the welcome kit. "It really did help us," Batonghinog said. "We love the community, we love the people and the people here are warm. They welcome us in their community." Batonghinog's coworker, Rajshree Pawar, also felt warmly welcomed by the gift basket.
Rajshree Pawar and Barry Buckle are neighbours in Forteau, N.L.
"People are very nice, very kind and very welcoming," she said. In turn, Pawar has kept busy paying that kindness forward. Whenever Pawar has time, she said, she makes a special batch of traditional Indian food for her Canadian neighbour, Barry Buckle.
"It's real, real tasty, but she don't put a big lot of spices in it for me because I don't like spices that good," Buckle said. "But on my birthday last year she made me a birthday cake, which was real nice. And her food is lovely."
However, to Buckle's disappointment, Pawar and her family are moving to St. John's. Pawar's son is heading to Memorial University, she explained, and the family wants to stay together. Otherwise, Pawar said she'd stay in Forteau. "I don't think I've had any better neighbours," Buckle said. "They are two wonderful people."
What happens after the welcome?.
Stefanie Kao-Fowler, the regional settlement coordinator with the Association for New Canadians in Forteau, said the office has supported about 140 newcomer clients in the region over the past couple of years.
In an emailed statement, she said while about 50 per cent of those clients have moved on, the number generally "remains consistent as people come and go," maintaining around 70 to 80 clients being served at any given time.
Originally from the Philippines, Wel Batonghinog says he was very happy to receive his welcome kit.
For her part, Linstead estimates that since 2020 about 40 returning residents have moved home to the Labrador Straits. She calls this a success, especially since some of those residents are in the workforce.
"They're filling some of those jobs, some of those vacancies," she said. "And they're giving back to community and they're bringing their experiences back to the Straits. And it's home."
With the next census slated for 2026, it's difficult to quantify the exact success of the Welcoming Communities Strategy. At the moment, the future of the program is also in question; after being funded for two years, Linstead is waiting to hear back about funding proposals going forward.
On an individual level, though, the warm welcome does have staying power for some — especially for Batonghinog. Moving to Forteau is one of the best decisions he and his wife have made, he said, and he has no plans to leave. "For me, it's a paradise," he said. "For those who want to look for another, you know, venture in life or place they want to stay, I would recommend they come here."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Andrea McGuire is a reporter with Labrador Morning in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL.
