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June 17, 2025JOB VACANCIES AND WAGES, Q1 2025 Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate (seasonally adjusted) was down 0.1 percentage points to 3.2% in Q1 2025, representing 14,265 job vacancies.
Nationally, the job vacancy rate was 2.9%, down 0.1 percentage points from Q4 2024. The highest job vacancy rates were reported in Prince Edward Island, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, while the lowest job vacancy rate was in New Brunswick.
In Nova Scotia, all economic regions reported lower job vacancy rates, with the exception of Cape Breton with no change. North Shore and Cape Breton regions reported the highest job vacancy rates in Q1 2025. Halifax reported the lowest job vacancy rate at 2.9%.
The number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia declined by 2.0% from Q4 2024 to Q1 2025. Nationally, job vacancies declined 3.8% with declines in every province except Ontario. The steepest decline was in Prince Edward Island.
In Nova Scotia, job vacancies were down the most in Southern Nova Scotia, while Cape Breton posted the largest gain in job vacancies in the first quarter of 2025.
Compared with Q1 2024, Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate was down by 0.4 percentage points to 3.2%. Nationally, the job vacancy rate was down 0.7 percentage points, with all provinces reporting declining job vacancy rates from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025.
Within Nova Scotia, all regions reported lower job vacancy rates from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025, with Annapolis Valley reporting the largest decline in job vacancy rates.
The number of job vacancies declined by 10.1% in Nova Scotia from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025. Nationally, the number of job vacancies fell by 18.1% with declines in all provinces. Alberta reported the largest percentage reduction in job vacancies.
Among Nova Scotia's economic regions, Southern Nova Scotia reported the largest year-over-year decline in job vacancies from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025, with declines in all other regions.
The average hourly wage offered on vacant positions (unadjusted for seasonality) was $25.65 in Nova Scotia during Q1 2025, this was up from $24.95 a year earlier. All provinces except New Brunswick reported higher average hourly wages on vacant positions compared with Q1 2024.
Average hourly wages on vacant positions were $28.90 nationally, with the highest values in British Columbia and Ontario. Manitoba and New Brunswick reported the lowest average wages on vacant positions in Q1 2025.
Across Nova Scotia, average hourly wages on vacant positions were up for all economic regions except Cape Breton. Q1 2025 wages were highest in Halifax and lowest in the Annapolis Valley economic region.
Average wages on vacant positions grew by 2.8% in Nova Scotia from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025. Nationally, average wages on vacant positions were up 6.1% over this period with gains in all provinces except New Brunswick. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the largest increase in average wages on vacant positions.
North Shore reported the fastest year-over-year growth in average wages for vacant positions while Cape Breton reported the only decline.
In unadjusted job vacancy rates by industry in Nova Scotia, health/social/daycare, personal/repair services, and accommodation/food services reported the highest job vacancy rates in Q1 2025. Agriculture/forestry/fishing, education and public administration reported the lowest job vacancy rates. (Note: no data were available for utilities for these periods, or for mining in Q1 2025).
Compared with Q1 2024, there were notable declines in job vacancy rates for Nova Scotia's agriculture/forestry/fishing, health/social/daycare, and real estate/leasing industries. Accommodation/food services had the most notable increase in the vacancy rate, while public administration saw no change.
The number of job vacancies remained highest in health/social/daycare in Nova Scotia in Q1 2025.
Most industries in Nova Scotia reported a lower number of job vacancies, comparing Q1 2025 against Q1 2024. Across all industries, job vacancies were down 10.9% in unadjusted results. The steepest percentage declines were observed in agriculture/forestry/fishing, real estate/leasing, and company management. Accommodation/food services reported the largest increase in job vacancies over this period. (Note: no data were available for utilities for these periods, or for mining in Q1 2025).
Compared with national averages by industry, Nova Scotia's job vacancy rates were higher for most reporting industries. (Note: no data were available for utilities for these periods, or for mining in Q1 2025).
In Q1 2025, average hourly wages offered on vacant positions in Nova Scotia were highest for professional/technical services and mining/oil/gas. Hourly wages for vacant positions in Nova Scotia were lowest for accommodation/food services.
From Q1 2024 to Q1 2025, average hourly wages offered on vacant positions in Nova Scotia were up for most industries. Note that quarterly data are unavailable for utilities in Q1 2024.
Growth in average hourly wages for vacant positions was strongest for company management and information/culture, comparing Q1 2025 against Q1 2024. Finance/insurance reported the steepest percentage decline in hourly wages offered on vacant positions over this period, followed closely by personal/repair services.
Compared with national averages, average hourly wages on vacant Nova Scotia positions were lower for all industries except arts/recreation. The gaps were largest in finance/insurance and utilities.
The majority of job vacancies in Q1 2025 required no more than a high school education and 3 years or less of experience.
Comparing Q1 2025 against Q1 2024, job vacancies were down for no minimum education, high school and university both at and below bachelor. In educational requirements, the largest gain was reported in university above bachelor. Among experience requirements, vacancies were down for all experience levels except for between five and eight years experience.
Average hourly earnings for vacant positions were on average higher for increased experience and educational requirements.
Over the last year (comparing Q1 2025 against Q1 2024), average hourly wages were up most for positions requiring one to three years of experience, as well as for those requiring university below bachelor. Wages were down for vacant positions requiring 5 to 8 years of experience and education at bachelor's degree as well as no minimum.
Trends
Following the pandemic (when job vacancy data were not collected), there was a substantial rise in Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate. The national job vacancy rate also increased over this time. After peaking in early 2022, vacancy rates in both Nova Scotia and across Canada have declined steadily. Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate has declined to 3.2% and remained above national average for the past four quarters.
The number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia peaked at 22,305 (seasonally adjusted) in Q3 2022. Since then, the number of vacancies has fallen by 8,040 with declines in all economic regions.
Growth in average hourly earnings for vacant positions across Nova Scotia has accelerated in the last two years.
Notes: Data collection activities were suspended from the start of the pandemic in March to September 2020. There remains a gap in the dataset for this survey.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0398-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, and job vacancy rate, by economic regions, quarterly, adjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0441-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, job vacancy rate, and average offered hourly wage by economic regions, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0442-01 Job vacancies, payroll employees, job vacancy rate, and average offered hourly wage by industry sub-sector, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0443-01 Job vacancies, proportion of job vacancies and average offered hourly wage by occupation and selected characteristics, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality; Table 14-10-0444-01 Job vacancies and average offered hourly wage by occupation (unit group), quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality
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