Job prospects Firefighter in Nova Scotia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "firefighter" 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 moderate for Firefighters (NOC 42101) in Nova Scotia for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

The city of Halifax has been recruiting additional career and volunteer firefighters. However, the process tends to generate significant public interest and competition is always high. Outside Halifax, some consolidation has occurred in firefighting services due to municipal budget constraints. Other than retirements, turnover among firefighters is generally fairly limited.

Here are some key facts about Firefighters in Nova Scotia:

• Approximately 800 people work in this occupation.
• Firefighters mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Local, municipal, regional, aboriginal and other public administration (NAICS 913-919): 77%
  • Federal government public administration (NAICS 911): 14%
• 94% of firefighters work all year, while 6% 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 51 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: more than 95% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: less than 5% 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: 24% compared to 27% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 33% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 24% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 17% compared to 20% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% 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 "firefighter" Firefighters (NOC 42101) or across Canada.

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