What Atlantic Canada teaches us about the future of work

In 2025, Magnet took our flagship event, Magnet Network Live, on the road. The MNLSpotlight Series convened leaders, innovators, and changemakers in three regions—Atlantic Canada, Manitoba, and Alberta. Each event highlighted local knowledge, partnerships, and innovations shaping the future of work. This piece is part of a series of reflections from Magnet’s leaders on what we learned in each region and what it means for Canada as a whole. 

What stayed with me was not only the conversations but the character of the region itself. The landscape, the people, and the long history of resilience all encourage a different way of thinking about what workforce innovation truly requires.

Adaptation is the foundation for strength

Atlantic Canada is shaped by its realities: an aging population, youth outmigration, and economic volatility. 

Two systemic challenges surfaced throughout the conversations:

• Youth are planning to leave before their careers begin. Research from Nova Scotia shows that many teenagers already imagine a future outside the region.
  
• Small population bases create talent scarcity. Limited immigration capacity and competition among provinces can unintentionally make collaboration more difficult.

These challenges extend beyond Atlantic Canada. If Canada wants a cohesive talent strategy, we must solve for attractiveness, not only availability.

Yet people here refuse to be defined by these constraints. Instead, they point to something else: adaptability. Several conversations reinforced this perspective:

• Youth need new narratives. Leaders emphasized that young people often see skilled trades as jobs for earlier generations. If we want them to stay and thrive, we must tell a different story.
  
• Training must meet people where they are. As Tamara Vatcher, CEO of Training Works, noted, reaching people in the flow of work is essential for upskilling to be effective. 

Leaders across Atlantic Canada are demonstrating incredible creativity in how they bring together the region’s greatest assets–engaged Indigenous and youth populations and a wealth of natural resources—to address these systemic challenges through collaboration and leveraging new technologies.

Effective innovation draws on local strengths

One of the most compelling examples of adaptation came from Labrador. Nunacor Development Corporation is building a model that blends Indigenous, local, and immigrant talent to address labour gaps across multiple sectors. Their Mamattuk Restaurant illustrates this approach in practice, combining local ingredients, global expertise, and Inuit cultural design.

CEO Andy Turnbull captured the value clearly, sharing that bringing in skills from around the world strengthens their businesses and elevates the products they create.

Major projects in energy and mining continue to shape the region’s labour demand. Hearing Corey Parsons, Trades NL, describe the evolution from reliance on international expertise during projects such as Hibernia to the development of deep local capacity was powerful. These projects are building infrastructure and creating a foundation of long-term skills and opportunities.

Andrew Parsons, former minister of Industry, Energy & Trade, highlighted that planning must begin long before projects launch. Labour demand follows its own timeline, and government must balance return on investment with regional needs.

Whether it was Nunacor using AI to streamline hospitality operations or older workers gaining confidence through accessible digital tools, technology emerged as a shared enabler. For a region with many small organizations, technology is a way to scale impact and reach.

Collaboration as a cultural advantage

One message came through with strength. Collaboration is a competitive advantage in Atlantic Canada.

As Sharon McLennon, Director of the NL Workforce Innovation Centre explained, smaller provinces cannot go it alone. Local coalitions bring together industry, labour, education, and government, with the government acting as an enabler rather than driver.

Atlantic Canada’s culture of collaboration has the potential to drive tremendous growth across all of Canada. A recurring challenge, however, is cultural humility. As Rachel Brown from the Government of New Brunswick pointed out, regional success stories often go under-shared. To unlock more opportunities, the region needs to become more comfortable showing the world what is working.

This potential can also be realized faster and more effectively by removing key barriers, including: 

• Program caps that make initiatives impractical for employers.
  
• Funding environments that favour established sectors rather than supporting calculated risk in new industries.
  
• Policies that are too prescriptive when regions need more flexibility.

One line captured the sentiment clearly: government is the fuel, not the engine. Regions know what they need. Policy should empower rather than constrain.

The conversations in St. John’s reinforced something important: Canada’s workforce future will not be solved by uniform national approaches. It will be shaped by regions that understand their own realities and build strategies that fit.

Atlantic Canada is already demonstrating how this can work by:

• Using smallness as a strategic advantage
  
• Leading with Indigenous innovation
  
• Turning major projects into long-term skill builders
  
• Making technology accessible for organizations of every size

The challenges in the region may be sharper, but the innovations are sharper too. If Canada wants a resilient, future-ready workforce, scaling models like these will matter far more than designing new one-size-fits-all systems.

Atlantic Canada is not just adapting. It is leading. And there is much the rest of the country can learn from what’s already happening here.

For more takeaways from MNLSpotlight Atlantic Canada, read the full event report.

Jessica Dubelaar, Director, Insights & Implementation