Education and Training

This page provides labour market information by educational attainment.

Some relevant definitions are:

  • Less than high school - this includes those who attended but did not complete high school and those with a primary education grade 8 or lower.
  • High school graduate – received a high school diploma or equivalent.
  • Some postsecondary – worked toward, but did not complete a trade certificate, certificate, diploma, or degree beyond the high school level.
  • Postsecondary certificate or diploma – includes a completed apprenticeship trades certification, college certificate or diploma, or certificates below a bachelor from a university.
  • Bachelor’s degree – attained a university bachelor’s degree.
  • Above a bachelor – attained a university degree beyond a bachelor’s.

Educational Attainment

In 2022, 65.7% of adults in Nova Scotia had a postsecondary education as their highest educational attainment, slightly lower than the Canadian level of 67.3%.

The percentage of Nova Scotian adults (18.4%) with a bachelor’s degree is lower than the Canadian percentage (21.4%). The proportion of the province’s adults with education attainment above a bachelor's level in 2022 was 9.8% while in Canada it was 10.9%.

Titled “Educational Attainment, 2022, Nova Scotia and Canada ages 25+”. Vertical bar chart with dark blue = Canada, light blue = NS. Horizontal labels are “less than high school”, “high school graduate”, “some postsecondary”, “postsecondary below bachelors”, “bachelors degree”, “above bachelor’s degree”.

Unemployment Rate

Unemployment rates are typically lower at rising levels of education. This has been the case at both national and provincial levels.  

  • Workers with less than a high school education suffered the highest unemployment levels in Nova Scotia in 2022 at 11.3%, which is down from 13.2% in 2021. .
  • Those with a high school diploma or some post-secondary education fared better, at 7.0% and 5.7%, respectively, which are both down from 2021 levels (10.3% and 9.1%, respectively). 
  • Workers with a postsecondary certificate or diploma had an unemployment rate of 6.1% (down from 7.7% in 2021).
  • Those with a university degree had an unemployment rate of 3.6%, which is down from 4.9% in 2021.

Unemployment rates in Nova Scotia are typically higher than the national level (5.7% versus 4.5% nationally in 2022). The gap tends to narrow with increasing levels of education.

  • Workers with less than a high school education faced an unemployment rate that was 2.9 percentage points higher than the national average in 2022.
  • Workers with university degrees had an unemployment rate 0.1 percentage points lower than the national average.

Titled “Unemployment Rate by Educational Attainment, 2022, Nova Scotia and Canada 25 and over”. Horizontal bar chart with dark blue = Canada, light blue = NS. Vertical labels from top to bottom are “above bachelor’s degree”, “bachelors degree”, “postsecondary below bachelors”, “some postsecondary”, “high school graduate”, “less than high school”.

 

Income

Nova Scotia’s employment income data shows that, on average, individuals with higher levels of education have higher annual employment incomes.

  • The median income for those with a postsecondary certificate or diploma below the bachelor’s level was $13,800 higher than high school graduates and $22,000 higher than those with less than high school.
  • The differences were even greater when compared to those with a university bachelor’s degree and above.
  • The median income for those with a university bachelor’s degree and above was $31,400 higher than those with a high school graduation and $39,600 higher than those with less than a high school education.

Titled “Median Employment Income by Educational Attainment, Nova Scotia 2021 census”. Vertical bar chart with dark blue = all work activity, light blue = worked full-time/full-year. Horizontal chart labels from left to right are “less than high school”, “high school graduate”, postsecondary below bachelor’s degree”, and “university, bachelor’s degree and above”.