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March 18, 2025JOB VACANCIES AND WAGES, Q4 2024 Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate (seasonally adjusted) was 3.3% in Q4 2024, representing 14,590 job vacancies.
Nationally, the job vacancy rate was 3.1%, unchanged from Q3 2024. The highest job vacancy rate was reported in Prince Edward Island while the lowest job vacancy rate was in Ontario.
In Nova Scotia, North Shore and Southern Nova Scotia regions reported the highest job vacancy rates in Q4 2024. Halifax reported the lowest job vacancy rate at 3.0%.
The number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia declined by 0.2% from Q3 to Q4 2024. Nationally, job vacancies edged up 0.03% with gains in five provinces. The fastest gain was in Prince Edward Island and the steepest decline was in Alberta.
In Nova Scotia, job vacancies were down in Cape Breton and Annaplois Valley. North Shore posted the largest gain in job vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Compared with Q4 2023, Nova Scotia's job vacancy rate was down by 0.3 percentage points to 3.3%. Nationally, the job vacancy rate was down to 3.1%; all provinces reported declining job vacancy rates except Prince Edward Island from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024.
Within Nova Scotia, all regions except North Shore reported lower job vacancy rates from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024.
The number of job vacancies declined by 8.9% in Nova Scotia from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024. Nationally, the number of job vacancies fell by 18.8% with declines in all provinces except Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick and Saskatchewan reported the largest percentage reduction in job vacancies.
Among Nova Scotia's economic regions, Annapolis Valley reported the largest year-over-year decline in job vacancies from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024. North Shore reported the only increase in job vacancies over the last year.
The average hourly wage offered on vacant positions (unadjusted for seasonality) was $25.75 in Nova Scotia during Q4 2024, this was up from $23.25 a year earlier. All provinces reported higher average hourly wages on vacant positions compared with Q4 2023.
Average hourly wages on vacant positions were $28.30 nationally, with the highest values in British Columbia and Ontario. Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the lowest average wages on vacant positions in Q4 2024.
Across Nova Scotia, average hourly wages on vacant positions were up for all economic regions. Q4 2024 wages were highest in Halifax and lowest in the Annapolis Valley economic region.
Average wages on vacant positions grew by 10.8% in Nova Scotia from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024. Nationally, average wages on vacant positions were up 7.4% over this period with gains in all provinces. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island reported the largest increase in average wages on vacant positions while Alberta reported the slowest growth.
North Shore reported the fastest year-over-year growth in average wages for vacant positions while Annapolis Valley and Southern Nova Scotia reported the slowest growth.
In unadjusted job vacancy rates by industry in Nova Scotia, health/social/daycare, transportation, and arts/recreation reported the highest job vacancy rates in Q4 2024. Education, information/culture, and public administration reported the lowest job vacancy rates. (Note: no data were available for utilities for these periods, or for mining and agriculture/forestry/fishing in Q4 2024).
Compared with Q4 2023, there were notable declines in job vacancy rates for Nova Scotia's administrative/support/call centers, personal/repair services, construction, and accommodation/food services industries. Arts/recreation reported the greatest rising job vacancy rates over the last year while education job vacancy rate was unchanged.
The number of job vacancies remained highest in health/social/daycare in Nova Scotia in Q4 2024.
Most industries in Nova Scotia reported a lower number of job vacancies, comparing Q4 2024 against Q4 2023. Across all industries, job vacancies were down 10.3% in unadjusted results. The steepest percentage declines were observed in administrative/support/call centers, personal/repair services as well as company management. Arts/entertainment/recreation reported the largest increase in job vacancies over this period. Real estate/rental/leasing and information/culture job vacancies were unchanged over this period. (Note: no data were available for utilities for these periods, or for mining and agriculture/forestry/fishing in Q4 2024).
Compared with national averages by industry, Nova Scotia's job vacancy rates were as high for most reporting industries. (Note: no data were available for utilities for these periods, or for mining and agriculture/forestry/fishing in Q4 2024).
In Q4 2024, average hourly wages offered on vacant positions in Nova Scotia were highest for professional/technical services and information/culture. Hourly wages for vacant positions in Nova Scotia were lowest for accommodation/food services.
From Q4 2023 to Q4 2024, average hourly wages offered on vacant positions in Nova Scotia were up for most industries. Note that quarterly data are unavailable for utilities in Q4 2024.
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Growth in average hourly wages for vacant positions was strongest for administrative/support/call centers and professional/technical services, comparing Q4 2024 against Q4 2023. Mining/oil/gas reported the steepest percentage decline in hourly wages offered on vacant positions over this period.
Compared with national averages, average hourly wages on vacant Nova Scotia positions were lower for all industries. The gaps were largest in mining/oil/gas and personal/repair services. Note that quarterly data are unavailable for utilities Q4 2024 in Nova Scotia.
The majority of job vacancies in Q4 2024 required no more than a high school education and 3 years or less of experience.
Comparing Q4 2024 against Q4 2023, job vacancies were down for no minimum education, high school and college. In educational requirements, the largest gain was reported in university above bachelor. Among experience requirements, vacancies were up for all experience levels except less than one year and more than eight years. The largest percentage gain was for positions requiring five to eight years experience.
Average hourly earnings for vacant positions were on average higher on increased experience and educational requirements, with the exception of positions requiring 3-5 years experience.
Over the last year (comparing Q4 2024 against Q4 2023), average hourly wages were up most for positions requiring more than 8 years of experience as well as for those requiring university above bachelor. Wages were down for vacant positions requiring 3 to 5 years of experience.
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 3.3% and remained above national average for the past three quarters.
The number of job vacancies in Nova Scotia peaked at 22,190 (seasonally adjusted) in Q2 2022. Since then, the number of vacancies has fallen by almost 7,600 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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