Provincial minimum wage will reach $17 in 2026

Nova Scotia will raise the minimum wage twice in the coming year, bringing it up to $17 per hour by October 2026.

The government made the announcement in a release on Tuesday. The hourly wage will increase incrementally, first to $16.75 per hour in April and hitting $17 in October.   

The announcement says the changes align with other affordability measures, like reduced child-care fees and frozen university tuition for Nova Scotian students.

“This is an important step, but it still falls far short for what workers need to cover basic living costs,” said Daniel Cerdas Sandí of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), a public policy institute.

The minimum wage in Nova Scotia also went up twice in 2025 and has rested at $16.50 per hour since October.

Cerdas Sandí said the raise will help close the gap between the minimum wage and current cost of living in Nova Scotia.

“When you have to pay rent, and you have kids and you have to pay for childcare … it’s a positive that we have increases, but it’s not enough,” Cerdas Sandí said.

According to the 2025 CCPA living wages report, which Cerdas Sandí worked on, the current living wage, which the centre says is “the income required to afford a minimal
standard of living,” in Halifax is $29.40 per hour.

Sydnee Blum is the executive director of the Halifax Workers Action Centre (WAC), an organization that offers free legal counsel to low and minimum-wage workers. While she acknowledges that any raise in minimum wage is positive, she says it is “long overdue.”

“I’m surprised, pleasantly so,” said Blum. “And I do think it shows that this government does have at least some commitment to improving things for working Nova Scotians.”

In a media release, Lina Hamid, the NDP opposition critic for Opportunities and Social Development, said “More and more Nova Scotians are finding it hard to cover the basics, and the planned minimum wage increases won’t put workers on a path to a living wage. We hear every day from people working full-time who can’t keep up with rent, power bills, and groceries.

“People should be able to build a good life here. They deserve a government that will implement real rent control, lower power bills, and create a real path to a living wage for everyone.”