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 across Canada.

Job opportunities in Nova Scotia

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be very good for Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202) in Nova Scotia for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to several 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.
• High employee turnover in this occupation could lead to additional employment opportunities.

There is very strong demand for early childhood educators (ECEs) related to the ongoing implementation of the Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. The number of ECE positions is expected to continue to increase through 2026 due to the planned creation of several thousand new child care spaces under the agreement. Qualified jobseekers should have little difficulty finding employment throughout the province.

Jobseekers with basic ECE certification may benefit from further professional development and upskilling through a variety of programs offered by the provincial government under the Nova Scotia Excellence in Early Childhood Education Workforce Strategy.

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

• Approximately 4,950 people work in this occupation.
• Early childhood educators and assistants mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Social assistance (NAICS 624): 80%
  • Elementary and secondary schools (NAICS 6111): 15%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 83% compared to 82% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 17% compared to 18% for all occupations
• 49% of early childhood educators and assistants work all year, while 51% 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 40 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 11% of early childhood educators and assistants are self-employed compared to an average of 11% 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: less than 5% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 18% compared to 27% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 8% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 44% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 20% compared to 20% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 10% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Nova Scotia by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

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

Learn more