The Nova Scotia peninsula juts out into the Atlantic Ocean with an economy based primarily on sailing, shipping, fishing and water recreation. The overall population of the province is 900, 000 with more than 3, 800 coastal islands. Halifax is the largest city with a population of more than 390, 000. Nova Scotia is considered to be one of the three Maritime provinces. Each of these Canadian provinces suffer from higher unemployment rates.
Since the 1600s, Acadia was developed as a wine- producing region in Nova Scotia. Maple syrup and blueberries are particularly popular foods found here. More than 30 agricultural products are exported from this province. An estimated 3, 795 farms employ 16, 000 people. Other traditionally strong sectors for employment were fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction. Sable Island has been a key source of natural gas, clay, shale, silica, limestone, gold and gypsum resources. The future viability of these mineral resources depends largely upon commodity prices, which have started to fall in April 2013.
In 2010, the per capita income of Nova Scotia was $38, 475. This was lower than the national average. On April 5 2013, the http://thechronicleherald.ca reported that Nova Scotia was the only province to experience job growth in March 2013. Statistics Canada estimated the job increase of 2, 900. Transportation, warehousing and culture were the industries experiencing the highest job growth rates for March 2013.
The Government of Nova Scotia issued its Labour Market Monthly noting that unemployment was near 9. 5%. This is one of the highest rates in Canada. Professional, technical, business, building and transportation saw job growth. The highest growth rate was more than 6% for professional services. Educational, manufacturing, goods- producing and finance saw job declines. Construction had a very slight growth rate of 0.7%, but there might be stress in the real estate market. As unemployment climbs, it is more difficult for people to keep up with mortgage payments. There is a ripple effect throughout the entire economy.
Nova Scotia has been forced to advance from traditional industries to more modern ones. In 1992, the cod fisheries collapsed forcing the diversification of the economy. The strengthening Canadian dollar has put pressure on the export of timber too. This province has been forced to diversify into other market sectors. The Information Communication Technology sector employs about 15,000 people. The financial sector has seen some growth with many of the Big 5 Canadian banks as well as payday lenders in Halifax and the surrounding area consolidating their call centers in the province. The provincial government is actively encouraging these companies to enter the market with generous tax rebate programs, as well as advertising the benefits of their timezone being earlier than nearly everywhere else in Canada. Empire theatres, the Bank of Nova Scotia and Bell Aliant are large employers with head offices in Nova Scotia. Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia is an important school for training and retraining workers.
The Department of National Defence is headquartered in Halifax with 40% of the Canadian military located here. This is a very important employer with numerous support jobs being added. Tourism supports 40, 000 jobs in Nova Scotia with large cruise lines visiting the beautiful coastal areas. The Cape Breton National Park was opened in 1936 with steep cliffs and deep canyons. Tourists can watch moose and other wildlife in this natural wonderland. The Kejimkujik National Park was opened in 1974. It offers numerous lakes and rivers for enjoying water recreation.