Enrolment at N.S. schools on the rise after falling for 50 years

The number of students at public schools in Nova Scotia is on the rise again after taking a dip at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and following decades of declining enrolment.

New figures released by the Education Department show enrolment increased this fall at every regional centre for education in the province. 

In most districts, the increase from fall 2021 to this fall was modest — in the range of one per cent to three per cent — and the provincial bump was 3.2 per cent, from 125,124 students to 129,121.

The biggest enrolment jump by percentage was in the Tri-County Regional Centre for Education in the southwest part of the province, which experienced a 6.1 per cent increase from last fall to this fall. The student population at the South Shore Regional Centre for Education grew by 4.2 per cent, and the Halifax district saw a four per cent increase.

Jeremy Brown, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Education Common Services Bureau, said the enrolment jump over the past couple of years is likely due to people moving to Nova Scotia from other parts of Canada, an increase in immigration and an influx of refugees from Ukraine and Syria.

Brown said Nova Scotia's census data reflects general population trends across Canada. Nationwide, there was a 5.2 per cent population increase from 2016 to 2021, and Nova Scotia's rise was similar, at five per cent, he said.

The growing student population has created challenges, particularly with finding enough teachers, Brown said. The Education Department is taking steps to hire more teachers, including by recruiting as a province rather than each regional centre for education doing its own recruitment.

"So we're going out and marketing Nova Scotia and saying Nova Scotia is a great place to live, it's a great place to work and please come to Nova Scotia," Brown said. "It's more of a collective effort now. Like, there's a lot more sharing and realizing we don't need to compete against each other. We just need to support each other, and any teachers we can bring into Nova Scotia, it benefits all of us."

The department has participated in virtual job fairs to share information about teaching in Nova Scotia and to screen candidates.

"Then we kind of play a matchmaker and say, hey, we found some applicants in Ontario. They'd like to teach here, here and here."

The department is also working with other government departments, such as Health, Immigration and Tourism, to benefit from their experiences with recruitment.

The number of students across the province bottomed out around 118,000 between 2015 and 2017, but started climbing again in 2018. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic briefly dampened the growth in fall 2020, but since then, figures have been steadily growing.

The turnaround is somewhat surprising after 50 years of falling enrolment. The number of students in the province has steadily dropped from over 200,000 in the early 1970s to 129,121 this fall, due to Nova Scotia's aging population and a declining birth rate.

The plummeting number of pupils over the years prompted school closures across the province, budget cuts, and the reduction of teaching and other staff.