Labour Force Survey Monthly

Labour Force Survey, March 2026

released April 10, 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 96,000 in March 2026. This is a decline of 200 from last month. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.3 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from March 2025 and up 0.1 percentage point from last month. The total labour force totaled 103,600 in March, up 2,400 compared to March 2025 and down 100 from one month ago. The participation rate was 66.5 percent in March, down 0.1 percentage point from February.

The year-over-year increase in employment was due mostly to an increase of 2,400 (20.2 percent) in part-time employment, while full-time employment increased by 200 (0.2 percent).  Full-time employment totaled 81,700 in March, while part-time employment was 14,300. The services sector saw an increase of 4,300 as compared to March 2025, while employment in the goods-producing sector declined by 1,600 over the same period (see table below for year-over-year employment gains and losses by industry), to total 72,700 and 23,400 respectively.

Employment in March decreased by 1.1 percent for people aged 25 and over as compared to February 2026, while employment for youth aged 15 to 24 increased 5.2 percent. Youth employment has dropped by 4.7 percent since March 2025, while employment for the 25 and over age group increased 4.1 percent over this period. 

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

The number of unemployed persons in March on Prince Edward Island was 7,600, up 100 from one month ago and down 200 as compared to March 2025. Long-term unemployment—the number of people who had been continuously unemployed for 27 weeks or more—was 800 in March, down from 1,200 in February. Expressed as a proportion of the total labour force, long-term unemployment was 0.8 percent in March, down from 1.2 percent in February.

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 2.0 percent in March. 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 March, PEI’s employment rate was 61.6 percent, up 0.5 percentage points from March 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 6.3 percent in March, down from 6.4 percent in February. 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 March was 9.0 percent, up from 8.7 percent in February. 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 increased by 14,000 in March 2026 as compared to last month and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent. The employment rate was also unchanged at 60.6 percent in March.

At the industry level, employment in the goods-producing sector increased by 12,500 (0.3 percent) as compared to last month, while employment in the services-producing sector saw little change.

Provincially, seasonally adjusted employment in March increased notably in Manitoba (1.5 percent), Saskatchewan (0.9 percent), and Nova Scotia (0.7 percent), while employment in British Columbia fell 0.7 percent.

National average hourly wages for employees rose 4.7 percent ($1.68) on a year-over-year basis in March. By province, year-over-year wage growth was highest in March in Prince Edward Island (7.4 percent; $2.20), Quebec (6.4 percent; $2.20), and Ontario (4.9 percent; $1.81). PEI’s average hourly wage remains the lowest among provinces at $31.75 in March.  

Unadjusted for seasonality, the national three-month moving average unemployment rate in March was 6.9 percent. The rate for population groups designated as visible minorities was 8.6 percent. Visible minority groups for which the rate was higher than the average were Black Canadians at 12.4 percent, West Asian Canadians at 11.4 percent, Arab Canadians at 11.0 per cent, Japanese Canadians at 9.0 per cent, and Latin American Canadians at 8.8 percent.

Canada Employment

¹ Components may not sum to total due to rounding

Notes:
1.    The LFS estimates for March are for the week of March 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 May 8, 2026.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, released April 10, 2026.

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

Related downloads for this release:

Monthly Labour Force Survey report - PDF (100KB)