Occupational Demand (Outlook)

This page talks about the best job opportunities from 2023 to 2025 period. 

This page talks about the best job opportunities from 2023 to 2025 period. 155 occupations were assigned a Good or Very Good call, meaning it is likely that someone looking for a job will have a good chance of finding work. Jobs are grouped by broad occupational category. Some key highlights are:

  • There could be around 4,467 job openings.
  • The expected job growth has slowed down compared to last year because of the cooling economy, but a 1.0% growth rate is still seen as good historically.
  • Most of these job openings, about two-thirds, will happen because of people retiring or leaving their jobs.
  • Nearly half of the job openings will be in Halifax because it has a younger population and a more active job market, leading to more job growth and fewer people leaving their jobs.
  • Outside of Halifax, about three-quarters of the job openings will happen because of people retiring.

1 - Business, Finance and Administration

In Nova Scotia, jobs in business, finance, and administration are the third most common type of job, with 79,100 people working in these roles. That’s about 16% of all jobs. This category is expected to provide around 7,880 opportunities.

The rate at which people leave their jobs and the rate at which new jobs are created are both expected to be a bit higher than usual. There will be job opportunities in different areas and for different education levels, but there will be a particularly large number of job opportunities in administrative and office support roles.

Below are the in-demand business, finance and administration occupations:

Good:

2 - Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology

In Nova Scotia, there were about 38,200 jobs in these fields, making up about 7.9% of all jobs in the province. It is predicted that there will be around 4,245 job opportunities in these roles during the forecast period. 

A lot of the jobs in this group are linked to the fast-growing Information Technology (IT) sector. More than half of the opportunities are expected to be in IT-related jobs. Because these jobs are expected to grow quickly, there will be more job openings than people leaving their jobs in this field.

Below are the in-demand engineering, math, science, and information technology occupations:

Good:

3 - Health

In Nova Scotia, 48,000 were working in health-related jobs, which is about 9.9% of all the jobs in the province. It is expected that there will be over 4,885 job opportunities in these fields during the forecast period. 

Most opportunities, almost three in five, will be in the three main nursing roles: Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs). The demand for health care is increasing because of the aging population, so these jobs are growing faster than the average for the province. About half of the new opportunities will come from growth. 

Registered nurses are expected to have the most job openings in any occupation group in Nova Scotia by 2025. Continuing care assistants are also expected to have well over 1,000 new job opportunities. These jobs have consistently had a lot of job openings in recent years.

Below are the in-demand health occupations:

Very Good:

Good:

4 - Education, Law, Government, Social and Community Services

In Nova Scotia, 60,800 people were working in jobs related to education, law and social, community, and government services. This makes up about 12.5% of all the jobs in the province. It is expected that there will be more than 5,100 job opportunities in these fields during the forecast period.

These job opportunities will be spread out across various areas within this group, with a focus on professional jobs in education and supportive roles. The growth rate for this group of jobs is expected to be slightly lower than average, partly because of limited funding for social programs.

One of the top jobs for new opportunities is for early childhood educators and assistants. This is largely because of the expansion of childcare services under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System. Nearly half of the new opportunities in this field will come from this growth. Although some people will leave these jobs, the rate of people leaving is expected to be lower than usual.

There has been a shortage of workers in this field, so the government has been taking steps to address it. They have increased pay for those working in childcare centres and created more chances for training and upskilling.

Below are the in-demand education, law, and social, community, and government services occupations:

Very Good:

Good:

5- Art, Culture, Recreation, and Sport

This category has the fewest jobs compared to other types of work, with only 13,200 people employed in these roles, which is about 2.7% of all jobs. Because of this, it is expected to offer the second-fewest job opportunities, at just over 1,200, even though there is an above-average rate of openings overall.

Most of the jobs in this category are quite small, and many of them, especially those related to arts, have a high rate of people working for themselves.

Below are the in-demand art, culture, recreation, and sports occupations:

Good:

6 - Sales and Service

Sales and service jobs are the largest group of jobs by a wide margin. Over a quarter of jobs fall into this category, which is about 126,500 people. Because of this, it is expected to have the most job openings during the forecast period, with about 10,985 opportunities, even though the rate of new job openings is lower than usual. 

Many of the larger jobs in this category, like retail salespersons and visual merchandisers, have had a lot of job vacancies, which means it is a good time for people looking for work in these roles. 

Below are the in-demand sales and service occupations:

Very Good:

Good:

7 - Trades and Transportation

This category is the second-largest group of jobs, with 83,100 workers. Over the next few years, it is expected to offer more than 7,200 openings. 

Most of these opportunities, about three-quarters of them,  are expected to come up from people leaving their jobs. Many of these jobs are trades where older workers are starting to retire.

One job that is expected to have a lot of retirements is transport truck driving. Since a lot of truck drivers are older, many of the new openings in this field will be because of retirements. Although the number of new jobs is expected to be lower than usual, there will still be some because of the growing population buying and using things, which means there is more need for truck drivers. To replace retiring workers, companies are looking at hiring people from groups they have not thought of as potential truck drivers before.

Below are the in-demand trades and transportation occupations:

Very Good:

Good:

8 - Farming, Fishing, Forestry, and Mining

This category has the second-fewest number of jobs, with about 15,200 workers. It is expected to offer the fewest job openings, around 1,185.

Most of the jobs in this category are in agriculture, and many of them are seasonal. Unfortunately, the number of jobs in industries like forestry and fishing is expected to go down, meaning there will be fewer opportunities overall in this category. It is the only category where the number of jobs is expected to decrease instead of increase.

Below are the in-demand farming, fishing, forestry, and mining occupations:

Good:

9 - Manufacturing and Utilities

In the manufacturing and utilities sector, there are about 20,900 workers, which is around 4.3% of all the jobs. It is expected to have about 1,800 job openings over the next few years.

However, the number of new jobs being created is expected to be lower than usual. Most of the new opportunities will come from people retiring or leaving their jobs for other reasons. Many of the jobs in this sector are in food and beverage production, especially seafood production.

Below are the in-demand manufacturing and utilities occupations:

Good:

Source: Service Canada

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