Job prospects Waiter/waitress in Nova Scotia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "waiter/waitress" 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 good for Food and beverage servers (NOC 65200) in Nova Scotia for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

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

A severe shortage of servers that emerged in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic containment measures continues to affect the food services industry throughout the province. Prospects are good for individuals looking for work as a server, however some conditions of employment may be a deterrent to applicants, such as long or irregular hours and seasonality.

Here are some key facts about Food and beverage servers in Nova Scotia:

• Approximately 3,300 people work in this occupation.
• Food and beverage servers mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Food services and drinking places (NAICS 722): 86%
  • Accommodation services (NAICS 721): 6%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 47% compared to 82% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 53% compared to 18% for all occupations
• 17% of food and beverage servers work all year, while 83% 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 30 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• Less than 5% of food and beverage servers are self-employed compared to an average of 11% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 21% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: 79% compared to 49% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: 10% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 49% compared to 27% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 5% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 15% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 19% 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 "chairman/woman - health, education, social and community services and membership organizations" Food and beverage servers (NOC 00013) or across Canada.

Learn more