Job prospects Pharmacy Technician in Nova Scotia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "pharmacy technician" in Nova Scotia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Nova Scotia

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Pharmacy technicians (NOC 32124) in Nova Scotia for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• Not many positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Strong demand for pharmacy technicians has emerged in recent years as the number of pharmacies and the services they can provide in Nova Scotia have both expanded. Jobseekers in this occupation should have little difficulty finding employment and may benefit from the upward pressure on wages created by the shortage of candidates.

In response to the shortage of workers in this occupation, a new pharmacy technician bridging program was introduced in 2024 which allows employed pharmacy assistants to upgrade their skills through online study.

Here are some key facts about Pharmacy technicians in Nova Scotia:

• Approximately 700 people work in this occupation.
• Pharmacy technicians mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Other retail stores (NAICS 44-45, except 445): 75%
  • Hospitals (NAICS 622): 25%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 80% compared to 82% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 20% compared to 18% for all occupations
• 79% of pharmacy technicians work all year, while 21% 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 46 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 7% compared to 51% for all occupations
  • Women: 93% 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: 12% compared to 12% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 51% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 10% 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

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