The Nova Scotia minimum wage is increasing to $15.20 an hour on April 1. (Robert Owen-Wahl via Pixabay)

By Rick Conrad

Nova Scotia’s minimum wage will be going up by 20 cents an hour to $15.20 on April 1.

Jill Balser, Nova Scotia’s minister of labour, skills and immigration, announced the raise in a news release on Wednesday.

Nova Scotia’s minimum wage review committee established a formula which would adjust the minimum wage by the national consumer price index, plus one percentage point, from the rate set the previous April.

This year, that means an increase of 4.7 per cent over last April’s rate, which was $14.50 an hour.

“This year has been very difficult for many Nova Scotians – business owners and workers alike,” Balser said in the release.

“I am grateful to the minimum wage review committee for putting forward the perspective of both employers and employees so we can ensure a balanced approach to increasing the minimum wage.”

Even with the adjustment, the basic rate is still below what some researchers say is a living wage.

In a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, released in September, the living wage is defined as the hourly rate that a household with two full-time workers and two children (ages 2 and 7) requires to meet its basic needs. 

The group includes government transfers such as the Canada Child Benefit and deductions, as well as employment income to arrive at a living wage.

For the southern region of Nova Scotia, which includes Queens County, the living wage was calculated at $25.05 an hour.

The group has called on the Nova Scotia government to increase the minimum wage to $20 an hour.

According to the province, about 26,200 Nova Scotians or six per cent of workers, worked for minimum wage from April 2022 to March 2023. They worked primarily in retail, food and accommodation.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Photo Ed Halverson

A new report suggests Nova Scotians need to make more money than ever to afford to live in the province.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released their latest living wage report earlier this week which shows people in Halifax have the highest requirements and now need to make $23.50 an hour.

That’s $10 more than the provincial minimum wage of $13.55/hour.

Residents of the South Shore have the second highest need in Nova Scotia at $22.55/hour.

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Executive Director Christine Saulnier says the two reasons why the South Shore scores so high are shelter and transportation costs. These costs are the second highest in the calculations. Shelter is less than Halifax, but food and transportation are higher.”

The Centre defines a living wage as the calculation that shows how much a household must earn to cover all necessities and allow families to enjoy a decent quality of life.

The calculations are based on two parents raising two young children.

Nova Scotia will raise the minimum wage in roughly 30 cent increments every six months until April 2024 to get the rate up to $15/hour.

Suzanne MacNeil, organizer with the Nova Scotia chapter of Justice for Workers says the results of the study shows that’s no longer good enough for Nova Scotian families and the province needs to do more.

“On October 1 instead of raising the minimum wage by 25 cents, I would say we need to raise the minimum wage to $20/hour now,” said MacNeil. “We believe that that can happen now.”

Premier Tim Houston addressed the minimum wage during a media scrum following Thursday’s cabinet meeting.

He says Nova Scotia is not immune to the cost pressures that are being felt around the world, but he will wait for a recommendation from the Minimum Wage Committee scheduled to meet again this fall.

“This is a committee of smart people, well respected people, people that I have respect for. They’re not naïve to what’s happening around them so we’ll look forward to their work,” said Houston.

MacNeil says another benefit government could enact right away would be to include 10 paid sick days for every worker in the province.

“The living wage calculations also include government benefits that people might be able to access,” said MacNeil. “So, when we have good social supports, good publicly funded programs, that takes the pressure off the household budget.”

MacNeil says relieving low-income Nova Scotians of financial stress will not only allow them to have happier lives but will lead to other positive impacts such as better health outcomes.

For her, the answer is obvious.

“It’s our belief, and I don’t think this is an overly radical belief, that the wages that Nova Scotia workers earn need to be within the same realm of realty of what it actually costs to live.”

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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