Author: Ted McDonald, Pablo Miah, Jacob Morehouse
Year: 2026
Category:
Economy and Labour
Social workers support people and communities across New Brunswick, but the province has faced ongoing challenges in attracting and keeping enough workers to meet demand. This study looks at how the workforce has changed over time and what factors influence whether trained social workers enter the profession, stay in it, or leave. To do this, it uses linked administrative data from the New Brunswick Association of Social Workers registry, NB university graduation records, and provincial Medicare data.
The study finds that the number of registered social workers has grown. About two-thirds of NB social work graduates register to practice after finishing their degree, and most new registrants stay in the profession for several years. However, fewer social workers may be working in frontline roles, and more people have been stepping away from active practice since 2019. The analysis shows that factors such as practicing status, years of registration, birthplace, and employment status before unregistering are linked to whether someone stays in the profession and, ultimately, in the province.
These findings help build a clearer picture of recruitment and retention patterns and can support planning efforts aimed at strengthening the social work workforce in NB.
