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.