Job prospects Social Worker in Prince Edward Island

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "social worker" in Prince Edward Island or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Prince Edward Island

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Social workers (NOC 41300) in Prince Edward Island for the 2024-2026 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.

A growing and aging population, coupled with government supports and investments in mental health services in the province, will contribute to increased demand for social workers over the forecast period. There is a shortage of social workers and unfilled vacancies in the province resulting in social workers having to contend with higher caseloads, longer wait times and staff burnout. Many new social workers begin their career in child services, as job tends to be more available, before progressing into other areas of social work. 

Since many social work positions are directly or indirectly publicly funded, demand in this occupation is mostly dependent on funding from all levels of government. Some job opportunities for social workers should arise from an increasing demand for social services for the elderly, including palliative and mental health support services, given the aging population. There is also a trend towards higher education in this occupation.

Here are some key facts about Social workers in Prince Edward Island:

• Approximately 300 people work in this occupation.
• Social workers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Hospitals (NAICS 622): 41%
  • Social assistance (NAICS 624): 40%
  • Provincial and territorial public administration (NAICS 912): 8%
  • Ambulatory health care services (NAICS 621): 5%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 88% compared to 84% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 13% compared to 16% for all occupations
• 75% of social workers work all year, while 25% 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 46 weeks compared to 41 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 13% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: 88% compared to 49% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: n/a
  • high school diploma or equivalent: n/a
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: n/a
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: n/a
  • bachelor's degree: 43% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: 54% compared to 8% for all occupations

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