Job prospects Software Design Engineer in New Brunswick

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "software design engineer" in New Brunswick or across Canada.

Job opportunities in New Brunswick

The recent trends from the past 3 years were updated on July 25, 2025. The job outlooks over the next 3 years were updated on December 10, 2025.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be Moderate for software engineers and designers (NOC 21231) in New Brunswick for the 2025-2027 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 moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

• Software engineers and designers are employed in consulting and research and development work, as well as within information technology units throughout the private and public sectors. A steadily increasing reliance on computer-based technologies should support demand for software engineers and designers, going forward. 
• Ideal candidates will be comfortable working with a variety of operating systems, and computer technologies. Experience and up-to-date skills in programming languages such as Python, Structured Query Language (SQL), and Java will have the best employment prospects. Some employers may require experience with cloud-based platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Azure. 
• Developments in automation and artificial intelligence are likely to shift the tasks performed by software engineers and designers, particularly the automation of routine, junior-level tasks such as code writing.
• These professionals are mainly concentrated in urban areas. The Fredericton region, in particular, has established itself as a hub for international and local investment in computer technologies.

Here are some key facts about software engineers and designers in New Brunswick:

• Approximately 850 people work in this occupation.
• Software engineers and designers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Computer systems design services (NAICS 5415): 64%
  • Information and cultural industries (NAICS 51): 6%
  • Architectural, engineering and design services (NAICS 5413): 5%
• 81% of software engineers and designers work all year, while 19% 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.
• 7% of software engineers and designers are self-employed compared to an average of 10% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 84% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 16% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 11% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 12% compared to 30% 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: 18% compared to 23% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 48% compared to 16% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 19% compared to 7% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in New Brunswick by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Labour market conditions over the next 10 years

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