While P.E.I. appears to be doing well, Atlantic Canada labour force is shrinking. According to APEC latest report card, between 2012-2018 the region labour force has declined by 30,600 primarily due to retiring baby boomers. During the same period, P.E.I. labour force was able to grow by two per cent.
With the increase in job vacancy rates over the past two years, employers are struggling to fill these vacancies and rising immigration is only providing partial relief.
While immigrants added about 19,000 to the region labour pool over the last six years which was not enough to eliminate a drop in labour force since 2012.
Immigrant retention rates are significantly lower in the Atlantic provinces.
Underrepresented groups are often targeted as a response to the declining labour force.
The report also revealed that the skills required for jobs in the Atlantic economy will also shift in the next decade. Co-ordination between employers and training organizations will be needed to make sure new and current workers are trained and re-trained for those jobs.