Occupational Demand Outside of Halifax

This page looks at job opportunities outside of Halifax for the 2025-2027 outlook period.

This page looks at the good and very good job opportunities outside of Halifax for the 2025-2027 outlook period. 

In regions outside of Halifax, 121 occupations were assigned a Good or Very Good rating, making up 58.5% of all employment outside of Halifax. 

Some key highlights are:

  • Attrition is expected to account for a larger share of opportunities outside of Halifax, where a larger share of the workforce is closer to retirement age, and job growth is comparatively slower.
  • Examples of occupations with a Good or Very Good call outside the Halifax region include nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates; retail salespersons and visual merchandisers; elementary school and kindergarten teachers; light duty cleaners; and construction millwrights and industrial mechanics.
  • Examples of occupations with a Limited or Very Limited call outside Halifax include fishermen/women; post-secondary teaching and research assistants; and chain saw and skidder operators.

1- Business, finance, and administration

Business, finance, and administration jobs are the third most common types of jobs outside of Halifax.  About 31,100 workers people are working in these jobs, which is about 13% of all jobs.  It is expected that these jobs will offer about 2,835 new opportunities.

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

Good:

2-Engineering, Math, Science, and Information Technology

There were about 11,900 jobs in these positions, which is about 4.9% of all jobs. It is expected that there will be around 1,340 new job openings during this time. Most of these new jobs will be in professional jobs related to natural and applied sciences.

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

Good:

3-Health

Outside of Halifax, 28,100 people were working in health jobs, which is about 11.7% of all jobs. It is expected that there will be over 2,400 new job opportunities in health during this time.

Below are the in-demand health occupations outside of Halifax:

Very Good:

Good:

4-Education, law, and social, community, and government services

In Nova Scotia, jobs in education, law, and social, community, and government services employed 30,600 people, which is about 12.7% of the workforce. It is expected that there will be just over 2,055 new job opportunities in these areas from 2025 to 2027.

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

Very Good:

Good:

5-Art, culture, recreation, and sport

This category has the fewest jobs out of the 10 main job categories, with only 4,400 workers. This is about 1.8% of all jobs. It is expected that there will be the fewest job opportunities in this category during the forecast period, with just 455 new jobs.

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

Good:

6-Sales and Service

Sales and service jobs are the most common jobs by far, making up 25.8% of all jobs outside of Halifax, with 62,200 workers. Because there are so many of these jobs, they are expected to offer the most job openings during the forecast period: 4,235 new jobs, which is about 21% of all new job openings.

Below are the in-demand sales and service occupations outside of Halifax:

Good:

7-Trades and Transportation

This category is the second largest group of jobs, with 45,000 workers, making up about 18.7% of all jobs. It is expected to provide the second most job openings during 2025-2027, with 4,170 new jobs. 

Below are the in-demand trades and transportation occupations outside of Halifax:

Good:

8-Farming, Fishing, Forestry, and Mining

In this job category, there are about 13,300 workers, which is about 5.5% of all jobs outside of Halifax. It is expected to have the second-fewest job openings, with only 945 new opportunities.

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

Very Good:

Good:

9-Manufacturing and Utilities

In manufacturing and utilities, there are 14,400 workers, making up about 6% of all jobs. It is expected that there will be around 1,445 new job opportunities in this field during the forecast period.

Below are the in-demand manufacturing and utilities occupations outside of Halifax:

Good:

Source: Service Canada Occupational Outlook, 2025-2027

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