Nova Scotia announces its largest minimum wage increase

Restaurants Canada says increase 'will pose significant challenges for foodservice businesses'

Nova Scotia announces its largest minimum wage increase

Nova Scotia will see the largest minimum wage increase in the province’s history this year.

The minimum hourly rate will be $15.70 starting April 1, 2025, before it jumps to $16.50 on Oct. 1.

“Inflation continues to put pressure on families across the province. We need to do what we can to help,” said Nolan Young, Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration. “This year we will see the biggest increase in minimum wage ever made in our province. We’re supporting hard-working Nova Scotians while addressing the rising cost of living.”

The new minimum wage represents a $1.30 increase in total from the current $15.20 per hour rate.

As a result of these increases, workers earning the general minimum wage and working 37.5 hours per week will see an annual pay raise of up to $2,535, noted the provincial government.

The minimum wage is updated every year on April 1 based on the consumer price index for the previous year, plus an extra one per cent. The additional increase on October 1 this year responds to concerns about the rising cost of living, according to the provincial government.

On average, 7.3 per cent of workers – equivalent to 33,700 Nova Scotians – earned the minimum wage between April 2024 and October 2024.

Restaurants Canada calls for help from government

With the coming minimum wage increases, Restaurants Canada is asking for support from the Nova Scotia government.

The group says that the increases “will pose significant challenges for its foodservice businesses” and “threaten the job stability of the 32,000 Nova Scotians they employ if it does not come with real measures to help the industry”.

The restaurant industry is responsible for 4.7% of Nova Scotia’s GDP, the group notes.

However, more than half of restaurants (53%) are operating at a loss or just breaking even, up from 12% pre-pandemic. They have seen increases of 20% or more on their insurance, food, utilities and labour costs already over the past two years.

And the record minimum wage increase this year will not help, they say.

“Minimum wage increases put pressure on restaurants to raise wages for non-minimum wage staff and result in higher menu prices, making affordability even worse for Nova Scotians. Many restaurants may also be forced to cut operating hours, reduce staff or even close their doors.”

Now, Restaurants Canada wants the Nova Scotia government to:

  • Reduce the small business tax rate by one per cent and raise the threshold from $500,000 to $700,000
  • Work with the federal government to make the HST holiday on restaurant meals permanent or at least extend it beyond the Feb. 15 end date
  • Provide a minimum wage subsidy program to help restaurant employers transition, as was done in Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador previously

“The last four years have been devastating for the foodservice industry, and we are facing significant challenges in 2025. Nova Scotians don’t want to see any more iconic local restaurants close their doors. It’s imperative that the provincial government help us mitigate this new cost,” says Cormier.

About one in three (32 per cent) of Canadian companies say mandatory minimum wage hikes result in increased salaries/wages across the entire company – not just for minimum wage workers, according to a previous report. That’s largely because most job seekers (59 per cent) say they would quit if they found out an entry-level employee had the same pay as a more senior-level employee at their company following a minimum wage increase, Express Employment Professionals previously noted.

Is highest minimum wage increase in province’s history enough?

But the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), claims that the record minimum wage increase in the province is “still not enough”.

Christine Saulnier – Nova Scotia director of the CCPA – and Jenna MacNeily – a graduate student at Dalhousie University who’s completing her Master of Social Work – claim that these minimum wage increases “hardly begin to bridge the gap between the minimum wage and the living wages calculated by CCPA Nova Scotia”.

“The 2024 Living Wage Report indicates that this minimum wage falls significantly short of what is necessary to make ends meet across the province,” they say.

“The highest living wage in 2024 was in Halifax, at $28.30; even the lowest rate – $24.00 in Cape Breton – is considerably higher than the provincial minimum wage. The weighted average for the province was $26.53, with living wages in the Annapolis Valley, Northern, and Southern regions at $26.20, $24.90, and $25.20, respectively.”

The two call for a further increase in the minimum wage this year.

“One solution is to increase the minimum wage to $20. Making life more affordable also requires substantial public investment to lower people’s out-of-pocket costs for essentials. This includes expanding access to key universal public services, like child care and health care, and increasing the amount directed to non-market affordable housing, public transportation, post-secondary education and food security.”

Employers are projecting smaller pay increases this year compared to actual salary bumps in 2024, according to a recent report from Mercer.

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