The Nova Scotia government announced an increase of the minimum wage to $15.20 per hour starting from April 1, 2024.

It said in a press release yesterday that this increase is consistent with the new formula it approved, which stipulates that the increase rate must be adjusted according to the national consumer price index "with the addition of one percentage point of the minimum wage set in the previous April."

This means that the minimum wage from next April will be 4.7% higher than it was starting from April 1, 2023 (a new window).

"This year has been very difficult for many residents of Nova Scotia, for both business owners and workers," said Jill Balser, Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration in the Progressive Conservative government in Halifax.

Balser added in the press release that this increase takes into account the views of employers and workers "so that we can ensure a balanced approach to increasing the minimum wage."

Some 26,200 Nova Scotia workers, about 6% of the total number of workers in the province, worked at the minimum wage between April 2022 and March 2023, mainly in the trade and services sectors.

The minimum wage in Nova Scotia also rose from $13.35 per hour on April 1, 2022, to $13.60 per hour on October 1, 2022, then to $14.50 per hour on April 1, 2023, and to $15 per hour on October 1, 2023.

Nova Scotia is the largest of the four Atlantic provinces in terms of population (about 1.07 million people) and economic size.