Nova Scotia's minimum wage to increase to $16.50 on Oct. 1

The minimum wage in Nova Scotia is set to increase from $15.20 an hour to $15.70 on April 1, then to $16.50 on Oct. 1.

In a news release, the province said the $1.30 raise in a year will be the largest minimum wage increase in Nova Scotia's history. 

"Inflation continues to put pressure on families across the province. We need to do what we can to help," Labour Minister Nolan Young said in the release. 

The Progressive Conservatives campaigned on a pledge to hike the minimum wage in last fall's provincial election.

Premier Tim Houston said at the time it would be an "investment in dignity for people" in response to the cost of living.

There were 33,700 Nova Scotians earning minimum wage between April and October 2024, according to the provincial government.

Previous changes to minimum wage include:

• Oct. 1, 2022 – $13.60 an hour.

• April 1, 2023 – $14.50 an hour.

• Oct. 1, 2023 – $15 an hour.

• April 1, 2024 – $15.20 an hour.

But Christine Saulnier, the Nova Scotia director for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, says that even when the minimum wage increases to $16.50 later this year, it still isn't enough to qualify as a "living wage" for workers. 

A report by the research institute last summer estimated the living wage was $24 in Cape Breton and $28.30 in Halifax.

The report defined the living wage as the hourly take-home pay — including federal and provincial transfers — that a person needs to pay for things such as rent, clothing, shelter, transportation, health care and basic household expenses.

"It really does mean that we need to see a more significant increase and plan to do something about the gap between the minimum wage and the living wage," Saulnier said. 

She wants to see the province go further to support low-income workers, which could also include investing in social housing and other policies to reduce the cost of living.

Industry group calls for more business support

On Wednesday, Restaurants Canada suggested the minimum wage increase could have negative effects on Nova Scotia restaurants and the people they employ by threatening future operations.

"We understand the need for or the reasoning why a government might want to raise the minimum wage, but we need them to help us out, because we're looking at an industry … that might, for the most part, have to close their doors soon," said Janick Cormier, Atlantic regional vice-president for Restaurants Canada.

The industry group wants the province to offset the increase by providing a minimum wage subsidy to help restaurants transition, decreasing the small business tax rate and working with Ottawa to extend or make permanent the HST holiday on restaurant meals.

Saulnier said restaurants should embrace the minimum wage increase.

"This is part of how we grow our economy, we begin to help those who are at the bottom," she said. 

"If we give them more money, they're able to afford the products that those same businesses need to sell … if we are not connecting those dots, then those businesses are losing out."