From a distance, a map of Nova Scotia’s unemployment rates seems unassuming. Large swaths of light blue seem to cover most of the province, representing up to 10% unemployment, which is in line with our official 8.5% provincial average.

Zoom in closer and you’ll find the province is riddled with freckles of dark blue, representing small communities with up to 40% unemployment. Start reading their names and you’ll see they’re places like Gold River, Indian Brook, Whycocomagh, Chapel Island —known in Mi’kmaq as Potlotek—  and more.

Across the province, unemployment rates on First Nations reserves are much higher than the communities that surround them.

Unemployment Rates in Nova Scotia

This map was created using data collected from the 2011 National Household Survey.  I recommend you try zooming in and clicking on the dark blue sections.

The Membertou First Nations community in Cape Breton is a hub for First Nations culture, training and employment. Between 1995 and 2010, their annual operating budget jumped from $4 million to $112 million.  They completely re-organized and as a result, their unemployment rate dropped dramatically.

Eileen Paul, Manager of the Membertou Entrepreneur Centre says, “the chief and council are big supporters of entrepreneurship.”

The Membertou Entrepreneur Centre was founded in 2005. It helps members on the reserve start their own businesses, find rental space, put together business plans and hire other members from the reserve.

“We do it so we can employ our own people. Chief Terry’s vision is that we become self-sufficient,” says Paul.

Membertou is also at an advantage when it comes to location. It’s only 3 kilometres from Membertou to the heart of Sydney, Cape Breton’s population centre of about 31,000.

On the other side of the province, distance is a much bigger obstacle.

Amanda Francis is the Native Employment Officer for Glooscap First Nation near Hantsport.

“One of the main barriers for us is we’re really rural,” she says, “There’s no public transportation that even comes to the town outside our community.”

Glooscap — Pesikitk’ in Mi’kmaq — is a reserve of just under 400 people. The next closest population centre is Hantsport, a small town of about 1,200 people, 6.4km away.

As a Native Employment Officer, Francis does career counselling, finds funding for employment programs and promotes employment opportunities to members on the reserve.

“Basically everyone on the reserve is my client in some form or another,” says Francis.

The lack of local employment training and opportunities is one problem she sees over and over again.

“Members don’t want to leave. Training is usually held in Membertou, Cape Breton and might be 16 weeks long. What if you have a family? How do you arrange childcare for 16 weeks? You can’t. We have no childcare service here. Then they might get a job after, but have to go to New Brunswick for it,” says Francis.

Distance from Glooscap to Membertou

Imagine trying to figure out how to make this four and a half hour drive without a car. For many members of the Glooscap First Nation, traveling to Membertou is the only way to receive employment training.

Just drive from Glooscap to Hantsport can be tricky. “Hantsport is maybe a 6 minute drive, but it’s a long walk. The last time I took a taxi home it was about $28. So imagine spending $50 for a round trip, just to get groceries.”

The same difficulty applies when trying to get from Glooscap all the way to Membertou for training, “and then you’d also have to find somewhere to stay for 16 weeks,” says Francis.

Right now one of her priorities is finding funding to build and staff a daycare centre, “We had this really crazy baby boom. There used to be only 4 or 5 children running around the reserve. Now there’s about 20,” she says.

Recently they had a rare employment course on construction safety come right to their community. It was done in conjunction with Dexter construction and a couple members completed the course and got hired right away, but Francis sees a gender divide in who is able to complete these employment training courses.

“Starting out, it was about fifty-fifty men and women who came out for the construction safety course. Unfortunately, none of the women completed the training because they had to take care of their children, or take them to a doctor’s appointment, etcetera.”

“A lot of people don’t have anything they can put on their resume, so people won’t give them a chance.”

Balancing motherhood and work is something she’s familiar with. She has three girls between the ages of three and 16.

For years she worked for Michelin Tires in Waterville, until she got pregnant with her third child and decided,  “I didn’t want to raise any more children while doing shift work.”

She moved back to the reserve where she spent her teens and moved in with her grandfather.

“It’s great,” she says, “If one of [the girls] says she wants to paint her room, he says, ‘what colour? I’ll get it.’”

Another initiative she’s looking forward to is the building a truck stop and café along the highway.

“That’s going to create a lots of jobs. It’s going to be great because a lot of people don’t have anything they can put on their resume, so people won’t give them a chance.”

She hopes the building of the truck stop means more people on the reserve will have a shot at that chance.