Current Situation
In 2018, Nova Scotia's labour force participation rate for 15-64-year-olds was 76.8 per cent, an improvement over 2017 but lower than the 2012 baseline of 77.0 per cent. The Canadian rate has remained relatively stable since 2012, and in 2018 it edged down to 78.4 per cent. With the participation rates moving closer together, Nova Scotia’s gap with the national rate declined to 1.6 percentage points. Although this represents a movement closer to the target, the gap remains larger than the baseline of 0.8 percentage points.
| Year | Canada (target) | Nova Scotia |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 76.2 | 72.1 |
| 2001 | 76.3 | 73.1 |
| 2002 | 77.4 | 73.7 |
| 2003 | 78.2 | 74.4 |
| 2004 | 78.1 | 75.6 |
| 2005 | 77.7 | 75 |
| 2006 | 77.7 | 74.3 |
| 2007 | 78.3 | 75.4 |
| 2008 | 78.4 | 75.6 |
| 2009 | 78 | 76.2 |
| 2010 | 77.8 | 76.5 |
| 2011 | 77.8 | 76.3 |
| 2012 | 77.8 | 77 |
| 2013 | 78 | 76.9 |
| 2014 | 77.8 | 76.5 |
| 2015 | 78 | 76.5 |
| 2016 | 78.1 | 75.8 |
| 2017 | 78.5 | 76.4 |
| 2018 | 78.4 | 76.8 |
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What This Means
The participation rate tells you the number of people of working age who are working or actively seeking work, as a ratio of the total working age population. The participation rate is driven largely by demographics - in the past four years, the rate has declined as a result of population aging.
Deep Dive
Read more detailed information about this goal by clicking 'Deep Dive'