Job prospects Dental Assistant in Prince Edward Island

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "dental assistant" in Prince Edward Island or Canada.

Job opportunities in Prince Edward Island

The employment outlook will be moderate for Dental assistants (NOC 3411) in Prince Edward Island for the 2022-2024 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Dentists' would often prefer to hire dental hygienists rather than dental assistants, as they can assign more tasks to hygienists. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, dentist offices in the province have had to contend with staffing shortages and appointment backlogs. As a result, the prospect for employment in this occupation is favourable over the forecast period. 

Employment growth in this field is dependent on the demand for dental services. Over the past decade, a growing and ageing provincial population and increasing public awareness of the importance of oral hygiene has increased the demand for dental services, supporting job prospects in this occupation.

Here are some key facts about Dental assistants in Prince Edward Island:

• Approximately 200 people work in this occupation.
• Dental assistants mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Ambulatory health care services (NAICS 621): 95%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 89% compared to 83% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 11% compared to 17% for all occupations
• 77% of dental assistants work all year, while 23% work only part of the year, compared to 57% and 42% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 38 weeks compared to 27 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: less than 5% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: more than 95% compared to 49% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: n/a
  • high school diploma or equivalent: n/a
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: n/a
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 85% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 7% compared to 15% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 7% for all occupations

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "dental assistant" Dental assistants (NOC 33100) or Canada.

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