New numbers from Statistics Canada show fewer Nova Scotians are leaving home for Western Canada as oil prices decline. However, the official opposition says it's time to stop celebrating the western downturn.

There are more Nova Scotians than ever before, according to Stats Canada. The latest population estimates show a modest growth in all three Maritime provinces in the first quarter of 2016.

“While I'm excited about the fact that Nova Scotia is growing, my message to Nova Scotians would be, we should celebrate that for a day and continue to grow the population,” says Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil.

McNeil says the numbers are, in part, a reflection of government efforts to encourage immigration.

“There's the provincial nominee program, we doubled it last year to an all-time high,” says McNeil.

While all three maritime provinces saw more outmigration to other provinces in 2015, those numbers are tapering off.

“There was actually a net gain from Alberta of about 34 persons in the final quarter of 2015,” says Fred Bergman, senior policy analyst for the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council.

Bergman says the downturn in Western Canada is driving Maritimers home.

“We're not expecting extensive economic growth due to the recent gains,” says Bergman.

The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council says Nova Scotia stands to benefit from the increased economic activity that comes with a higher population, but only if those who come here choose to stay.

“Wages in Alberta tend to be 30 to 35 per cent higher than most of the Atlantic provinces, with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador, so I mean, that's a big draw,” says Bergman.

McNeil is hopeful the province will be able to sustain the recent population growth.

“We know the activity is ramping up down at the shipyard in terms of hires, we've seen some other industrial activity,” says McNeil.

But the opposition says that's not enough.

“We need to get off of this treadmill where our population goes up or down depending on what's going on out west and actually have a real vision and plan to grow our economy,” says Jamie Baillie, Progressive Conservative leader.

Stats Canada says the overall growth in Canada's population last year is due to international migration, a trend that will likely continue in 2016 with the arrivals of thousands of Syrian refugees.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Sarah Ritchie