The Nova Scotia minimum wage is increasing to $15.70 an hour on April 1. (Robert Owen-Wahl via Pixabay)
Nova Scotia’s minimum wage is set to go up a total of $1.30 an hour this year.
The first bump will come on April 1, when it rises to $15.70, a raise of 50 cents an hour, and the second increase will be on Oct. 1 when it goes to $16.50.
The Nova Scotia government is touting is as the largest minimum wage increase in the province’s history.
“Inflation continues to put pressure on families across the province. We need to do what we can to help,” Nolan Young, minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration, said in a news release.
The province says that with the Oct. 1 raise, Nova Scotia workers earning minimum wage and working 37.5 hours a week will see their annual pay cheques rise by $2,535.
About 33,700 Nova Scotians earned minimum wage between April 2024 and October 2024.
The minimum wage on P.E.I. rose to $16 an hour on Oct. 1, 2024. It’s $15.60 an hour in Newfoundland and Labrador and $15.30 an hour in New Brunswick.
The Nova Scotia minimum wage increased to $15.20 an hour on April 1. (Robert Owen-Wahl via Pixabay)
Nova Scotia’s minimum wage went up on Tuesday, but it’s still the lowest in Atlantic Canada.
Nova Scotians working for the basic wage are now earning $15.20 an hour.
New Brunswick’s rate is now $15.30, PEI’s rose to $15.40, and Newfoundland and Labrador set its rate at $15.60. PEI plans another hike to $16 by Oct. 1.
An average of six per cent of Nova Scotia workers, or just over 26,000 people, worked for minimum wage in 2023, according to the province.
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.
Screenshot of the Employment Insurance page on the Government of Canada website
The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour is calling on the Canadian government to extend COVID recovery measures for those on employment insurance until a new system is in place.
The current temporary measures are set to expire September 24.
When they do, the number of hours required to be eligible for EI benefits will increase from 420 to as many as 700, depending on what part of Nova Scotia an applicant lives.
President of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour Danny Cavanagh says some Nova Scotians struggle to get enough hours to qualify for EI benefits due to the seasonal nature of their work.
“In both the Eastern and Western regions of this province it could end up being pretty devastating for a number of people working in those seasonal industries,” said Cavanagh.
The federal government is currently working to revamp the EI program and Cavanagh says it would be better to maintain the lower 420 qualifying hours until the new system is in place.
Cavanagh estimates anyone in Western Nova Scotia (including Queens) will need 630 hours to qualify for EI after September 24.
“Whether the employers like it, or anybody likes it or doesn’t like it, workers have been falling behind for a number of years and I think that we’re just going to have to buck up here and make sure people are getting paid a decent wage for the work they do and that employers see value in the workers to be able to pay them that wage,” said Cavanagh. “Those that can’t keep up, I guess are going to fall behind, meaning, the employers. We’re just not going, I don’t think, be able to see every business survive. That’s the reality we’re in today.”
Cavanagh is urging workers to contact their local Member of Parliament to ask them to put pressure on government and keep the existing temporary COVID measures in place until his group and others can work with officials to modernize the EI system to reflect the realities of 2022.
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.”
