Job prospects Civil Engineer in Nova Scotia

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Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "civil engineer" in Nova Scotia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Nova Scotia

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Civil engineers (NOC 21300) in Nova Scotia for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of 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.

Some larger civil engineering firms in Nova Scotia function as national organizations, so hiring conditions are not strictly reliant on the demand for engineering services within the province. Demand for civil engineers has been supported by a large volume of government capital projects in recent years. Intermediate and senior engineers are in high demand, so jobseekers with several years of experience should find hiring conditions to be favourable. The job market is expected to be more competitive for junior engineers and recent graduates, however. Applicants with experience or expertise in environmental engineering may have an advantage as this is a growing field.

Here are some key facts about Civil engineers in Nova Scotia:

• Approximately 1,250 people work in this occupation.
• Civil engineers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Architectural, engineering and design services (NAICS 5413): 47%
  • Construction (NAICS 23): 22%
  • Utilities (NAICS 22): 6%
• 80% of civil engineers work all year, while 20% 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 47 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 16% of civil engineers are self-employed compared to an average of 11% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 85% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: 15% 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: less than 5% compared to 27% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: n/a
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 8% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 64% compared to 20% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 26% compared to 10% 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 a "civil engineer" in Nova Scotia or across Canada.

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