Job prospects Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Assistant in Nova Scotia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as an "early childhood educator (ECE) assistant" in Nova Scotia or Canada.

Job opportunities in Nova Scotia

The employment outlook will be very good for Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 4214) in Nova Scotia for the 2022-2024 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to several new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
• High employee turnover in this occupation could lead to additional employment opportunities.

Multiple changes to the early learning and child care industry have created a large number of opportunities for this occupation. The provincial pre-primary program rollout concluded in October 2020, having created around 850 new positions for ECEs. Some vacancies have been created in the private child care system as workers moved to the public pre-primary program. The shortfall of ECEs has also been amplified by workers taking sick leave during the pandemic. Further, plans are in place to create nearly 10,000 more child care spaces and the ECE positions required to staff them. As part of these plans, a wage increase for ECEs from July 4, 2022 has been put in place. Jobseekers in this field should have little difficulty finding employment in most areas the province.

Here are some key facts about Early childhood educators and assistants in Nova Scotia:

• Approximately 4,400 people work in this occupation.
• Early childhood educators and assistants mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Social assistance (NAICS 624): 88%
  • Elementary and secondary schools (NAICS 6111): 7%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 75% compared to 80% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 25% compared to 20% for all occupations
• 54% of early childhood educators and assistants work all year, while 46% work only part of the year, compared to 62% and 38% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 31 weeks compared to 30 weeks for all occupations.
• 13% of early childhood educators and assistants are self-employed compared to an average of 9% 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: 6% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 19% compared to 26% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: less than 5% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 50% compared to 27% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 18% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Nova Scotia by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as an "early childhood educator (ECE) assistant" Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202) or Canada.

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