Job prospects Patient Care Associate in Northwest Territories

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "patient care associate" in Northwest Territories or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Northwest Territories

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (NOC 33102) in Northwest Territories for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment decline will lead to the loss of some positions.
• Several positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Severe labour shortages in the health care sector have affected the delivery of health services in NWT since the pandemic. The health care sector was also severely affected by evacuations in Yellowknife during the wildfire season of 2023. In July,  the Government of Canada and the Government of Northwest Territories announced an agreement in principle for a shared plan that will invest $361 million in federal funding over 10 years in Northwest Territories, including $73 million for a new bilateral agreement focusing on shared health priorities. Persistent labour shortages combined with significant government investment means that the outlook for nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates remains positive in the short to medium term. 

Here are some key facts about Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates in Northwest Territories:

• Approximately 250 people worked in this occupation in May 2021.
• Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Health care and social services (NAICS 62): 79%
  • Public Administration and Defence (NAICS 91): 17%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 89% compared to 88% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 11% compared to 12% for all occupations
• 77% of nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates work all year, while 23% work only part of the year, compared to 71% and 28% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 46 weeks compared to 44 weeks for all occupations.
• Less than 5% of nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates are self-employed compared to an average of 7% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 18% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 82% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 19% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 16% compared to 26% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 21% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 28% compared to 18% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 9% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 7% compared to 9% for all occupations

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "patient care associate" in Northwest Territories or across Canada.

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