Job prospects Software Design Engineer in Nova Scotia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "software design 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 Software engineers and designers (NOC 21231) in Nova Scotia for the 2023-2025 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.

Demand for this occupation is expected to remain strong with continuing growth anticipated in the information technology (IT) field. The Halifax area in particular, where much of the work is found, offers a wide variety of potential employers across a varied, technology-based economy. There may also be overlap between the duties of software engineers/designers and software developers and programmers (NOC 21232) within the area, and highly-skilled software engineers may possess the skills to fill positions in those larger, closely related fields as well. Remote hiring is common in the IT field, so jobseekers may benefit from including remote opportunities in their job search.

Here are some key facts about Software engineers and designers in Nova Scotia:

• Approximately 1,400 people work in this occupation.
• Software engineers and designers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Computer systems design services (NAICS 5415): 76%
  • Information and cultural industries (NAICS 51): 6%
• 82% of software engineers and designers work all year, while 18% 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 48 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 7% of software engineers and designers are self-employed compared to an average of 11% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 84% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: 16% 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: 7% compared to 27% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: less than 5% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 14% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 53% compared to 20% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 24% 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 "software design engineer" in Nova Scotia or across Canada.

Learn more