Atlantic Canada government workforce larger than national figures: Fraser Institute study

The Nova Scotia legislature is seen in Halifax in this undated file photo.

The government workforces in all four Atlantic Canada provinces exceeded the national numbers in 2024, according to a new study by right-leaning think tank the Fraser Institute.

The study, which looked at amount of provincial and municipal government workers relative to every province’s population, found sub-national public sector jobs accounted for 18.4 per cent of all jobs in Canada in 2024.

Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick all exceeded that number with 26.5, 22.5, 22.3 and 20.4 per cent, respectively.

The report also found that Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec all exceeded the national number.

“This bulletin does not attempt to assess whether any province’s public-sector employment levels are ‘too high’ or ‘too low,’ nor does it evaluate the underlying policy choices or structural factors that contribute to observed differences,” the study reads. “Instead, its purpose is simply to measure the relative size of public-sector workforces in Atlantic Canada and then quantify the fiscal implications of those differences

“We recognize each province faces unique circumstances that influence the number of public sector workers required to deliver services and the compensation needed to attract them.”

The study also found Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I. had roughly 117 provincial and municipal government workers per 1,000 residents while Nova Scotia and New Brunswick had 110 and 97, respectively.

The national average is 94 per 1,000 residents, according to the study.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan have the highest numbers in this field with 126 and 124. Quebec also has 107 per 1,000 residents.

“If subnational public-sector employment rates in Atlantic Canada had matched the national average in 2024, the four Atlantic provinces would have employed approximately 35,000 fewer government workers, reducing their combined public-sector wage bills by an estimated $2.7 billion,” the study claims.

“For context, the combined operating deficits projected for these provinces in 2025/26 total $2.9 billion.”