Job prospects Restaurant Waiter/waitress - Formal Service in Nova Scotia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "restaurant waiter/waitress - formal service" in Nova Scotia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Nova Scotia

These outlooks were updated on November 29th, 2023. Learn more about outlooks.

Prospects over the next 3 years

Good

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.

Legend

0 out of 5 stars
Undetermined
1 out of 5 stars
Very limited
2 out of 5 stars
Limited
3 out of 5 stars
Moderate
4 out of 5 stars
Good
5 out of 5 stars
Very good

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 "restaurant waiter/waitress - formal service" Food and beverage servers (NOC 65200) or across Canada.

Learn more

Labour Market Information Survey
Date modified: