Labour Force Survey Monthly

Labour Force Survey, February 2026

released March 13, 2026

Prince Edward Island Employment

Unemployment Rate By Province (seasonally adjusted, in percentage)

Summary

Statistics Canada’s LFS shows P.E.I.’s seasonally adjusted employment increased 2,600 from one year ago to reach an all-time high of 96,200 in February 2026. This is an increase of 700 from last month. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, down 0.7 percentage points from February 2025 and down 0.4 percentage points from last month. The total labour force totaled 103,700 in February, also an all-time high. This is up 2,100 (2.1 percent) compared to February 2025 and up 300 (0.3 percent) compared to January 2026. The participation rate was 66.6 percent in February, up 0.1 percentage point from January.

Employment in February increased by 1.0 percent for people aged 25 and over as compared to January 2026, while employment for youth aged 15 to 24 fell 0.7 percent. Youth employment has dropped by 8.8 percent since February 2025, compared to an increase of 4.9 percent for the 25 and over age group over this period.

The year-over-year increase in employment was due mostly to an increase of 1,800 (14.1 percent) in part-time employment, while full-time employment increased by 700 (0.9 percent).  Full-time employment totaled 81,500 in February, while part-time employment was 14,600. The services sector saw an increase of 4,300 as compared to February 2025, while employment in the goods-producing sector declined by 1,700 over the same period (see table below for year-over-year employment gains and losses by industry), to total 72,900 and 23,300 respectively. 

Employment gains (+)/ losses (-) between February 2025 and February 2026 occurred in the following sectors on Prince Edward Island¹:

The number of unemployed persons in February on Prince Edward Island was 7,500, down 400 from one month ago and down 500 as compared to February 2025. Long-term unemployment—the number of people who had been continuously unemployed for 27 weeks or more—was 1,200 in February, down from 1,500 in January. Expressed as a proportion of the total labour force, long-term unemployment was 1.2 percent in February, down from 1.5 percent in January.

PEI Unemployment Rate (Seasonally Adjusted)

According to the Labour Force Survey, year-over-year growth in PEI’s population aged 15 years and older was 1.9 percent in February. The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 years and older who are employed—can help assess whether employment growth is keeping pace with population growth. In February, PEI’s employment rate was 61.8 percent, up 0.5 percentage points from February 2025. This indicates that growth in employment has outpaced growth in the population aged 15 years and over year-over-year. The employment rate was at an all-time high of 63.1 percent in September 2023.

The three-month moving average unemployment rate used by the Employment Insurance program for the Charlottetown region was 6.4 percent in February, down from 6.6 percent in January. The minimum draw period and hours needed to qualify remain at 15 weeks and 665 hours for this region. The rate in the PEI region in February was 8.7 percent, down from 8.9 percent in January. The minimum draw period and hours needed to qualify remain at 18 weeks and 595 hours for this region. For more information, please refer to Employment Insurance (EI) - Canada.ca.

NATIONAL

Nationally, employment decreased by 84,000 in February 2026 as compared to January 2026 and the unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage point to 6.7 percent. The employment rate decreased 0.2 percentage points to 60.6 per cent in February.

At the industry level, employment in the goods-producing sector decreased by 27,900 (-0.7 percent) as compared to last month, while employment in the services-producing sector fell by 56,200 (-0.3 percent).

Provincially, seasonally adjusted employment in February increased only in Newfoundland and Labrador (0.8 percent) and Prince Edward Island (0.7 percent). Notable declines occurred in Quebec (-1.2 percent), British Columbia (-0.7 percent), and Saskatchewan (-0.9 percent).

National average hourly wages for employees rose 3.9 percent ($1.42) on a year-over-year basis in February. By province, year-over-year wage growth was highest in February in Prince Edward Island (6.1 percent; $1.84), Nova Scotia (5.3 percent; $1.68), and Quebec (5.1 percent; $1.76). PEI’s average hourly wage remains the lowest among provinces at $31.78 in February.  

Unadjusted for seasonality, the national three-month moving average unemployment rate in February was 6.7 percent. The rate for population groups designated as visible minorities was 8.4 percent. Visible minority groups for which the rate was higher than the average were Black Canadians at 12.2 percent, Arab Canadians at 10.8 per cent, West Asian Canadians at 10.8 percent, Japanese Canadians at 10.6 per cent, and Latin American Canadians at 8.6 percent. 

Canada Employment

¹ Components may not sum to total due to rounding

Notes:
1.    The LFS estimates for February are for the week of February 15 to 21.
2.    The LFS estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. For more information, see the Statistics Canada publication "Interpreting Monthly Changes in Employment from the Labour Force Survey."
3.    The next release of the LFS will be on April 10, 2026.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, released March 13, 2026.

For more information and links to data tables, refer to the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey release for February 2026.

Related downloads for this release:

Monthly Labour Force Survey report - PDF (100KB)