February 9, 2023
The minimum wage in Nova Scotia will rise to $15 in October, six months earlier than originally planned.
This comes after the province’s Minimum Wage Review Committee recommended last month that the wage increase be accelerated due to the impacts of inflation.
“The minimum wage rate impacts the lives of workers and businesses, and we know the rising cost of inflation has been difficult for both,” said Jill Balser, minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration, in a release Friday.
According to the committee report last month, minimum wage earners made up about seven per cent of workers — 28,500 Nova Scotians — during the period from April 2021 to March 2022.
It said they work primarily in retail trade, followed by food and accommodation industries. Fifty-six per cent of minimum wage earners are female, 64 per cent are non-students, 27 per cent are over the age of 35, 37 per cent are employed full-time and 46 per cent have a post-secondary education.
