RCC opposes Nova Scotia decision to accelerate minimum wage increase

The Nova Scotia government announced it will accept the recommendations of the province’s Minimum Wage Review Committee and move Nova Scotia’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour on October 1, 2023.

This is an acceleration of last year’s roll-out of a five-step plan that would have moved the province’s minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by April 1, 2024. The government has also accepted the recommendation of the Review Committee to legislate that future adjustments to the province’s minimum wage mirror the previous year’s change in the national Consumer Price Index plus one percent.

RCC did not oppose the steps taken in recent years by the Nova Scotia government to increase the province’s minimum wage to levels competitive within Atlantic Canada and across the country. Throughout this process, the consistent request from RCC members has been for the government’s minimum wage decisions to be responsible and predictable while allowing adequate time for RCC members to plan for increases to the base wage. RCC made this request yet again, through correspondence and a meeting with the Minister of Labour following the initial Review Committee recommendation in January 2023.

However, the government’s acceptance of the Review Committee’s recommendations marks the second time since 2019 where the government mandated a multi-step, multi-year plan for minimum wage increases, only to abandon those plans, one year later.

RCC has engaged in numerous media interviews on this issue and will continue to push for the province to return to minimum wage decisions that are responsible and predictable.