HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government says workers will benefit from the province's largest ever increase to the minimum wage later this year, but an advocacy group says $16.50 an hour doesn't come close to being a living wage.
The province's Labour Department issued a statement Wednesday saying the formula used to increase the wage is based on matching last year's consumer price index and adding one percentage point. As well, the department said an additional increase coming this fall is in response to heightened concerns about the rising cost of living.
The wage rate will increase 50 cents to $15.70 an hour on April 1. It will then jump to $16.50 on Oct. 1, for a total increase this year of $1.30 or 8.5 per cent.
"Inflation continues to put pressure on families across the province," said Labour Minister Nolan Young. "We're supporting hard-working Nova Scotians while addressing the rising cost of living."
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives welcomed the increases, but the think tank said the cost of living is outpacing those increases.
"These minimum wage increases hardly begin to bridge the gap between the minimum wage and the living wages calculated by CCPA Nova Scotia," the centre said in a statement released Wednesday. "One solution is to increase the minimum wage to $20."
The research group said it has calculated that to make ends meet in Nova Scotia, the average living wage should be at least $26.53 an hour, though it would be higher in Halifax at $28.30 an hour. The lowest rate for a living wage was in Cape Breton, where it was pegged at $24 an hour.
The organization describes a living wage as the take-home pay that a person needs to cover rent, clothing, shelter, transportation, health care and basic household expenses.
The non-profit group says the province's formula for wage increases should take into account the rapidly rising cost of rent, which is the most significant portion of low-wage workers’ budgets.
"The formula should factor in real-time costs in the province more carefully," the centre says, adding that rents in Nova Scotia rose an average of 7.9 per cent in 2024 compared with 2023.
Meanwhile, the government noted that 7.3 per cent of workers in Nova Scotia earned the minimum wage between April and October 2024.
"Those who oppose significant increases to the minimum wage argue that this work is primarily done by young people with few expenses and lots of family support," says the centre's statement, written by Nova Scotia director Christine Saulnier. "However, the reality is that teenagers are far from the only ones working in low-wage jobs."
Data compiled by Statistics Canada shows 35 per cent of the province's workers were earning $20 an hour or less in 2023. As well, the data show that the majority of those workers were holding down full-time, permanent positions, and 82 per cent of them were not students.
The centre says the province could also help lower the cost of living by expanding access to universal public services and increasing funding for affordable housing, public transportation, post-secondary education and food security.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2025.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press