Job prospects Early Childhood Educator (ECE) near Charlottetown (PE)

Over the past few years (2021-2023), there was a major labour shortage for Early childhood educators and assistants near Charlottetown (PE). There were far more job openings than workers available to fill them in this occupation.

Source Labour Market Information | Recent Trends Assessment Methodology

The employment outlook will be very good for Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202) in Prince Edward Island for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to several 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.
• High employee turnover in this occupation could lead to additional employment opportunities.

The federal-provincial Early Learning and Child Care Agreement will be implemented over the forecast period, resulting in the creation of new child-care spaces and early childhood educator positions in the province. The P.E.I. government is planning to add up to 300 new childcare spaces across the Island over the forecast period. Furthermore, educators and staff received wage increases in October 2023. The prospect for employment in this occupation is very good and new graduates should experience little difficulty finding employment in most areas of the province. 

On P.E.I., there is an increasing demand in the industry for qualified individuals who have a diploma in early childhood education. Some employers, especially those in rural areas, experience difficulty in finding certified early child care staff.  Job prospects will be better for those workers with post-secondary qualifications and those with enhanced skills such as a second language or experience with special needs children.

Here are some key facts about Early childhood educators and assistants in Prince Edward Island:

• Approximately 1,000 people work in this occupation.
• Early childhood educators and assistants mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Social assistance (NAICS 624): more than 95%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 84% compared to 84% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 17% compared to 16% for all occupations
• 52% of early childhood educators and assistants work all year, while 48% work only part of the year, compared to 59% and 41% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 40 weeks compared to 41 weeks for all occupations.
• 8% of early childhood educators and assistants are self-employed compared to an average of 13% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: less than 5% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: more than 95% compared to 49% 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: 30% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 8% compared to 11% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 44% compared to 25% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 11% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology