N.S. committee recommends raising minimum wage to $15 an hour six months earlier

Labour Minister Jill Balser says her department will consult with business owners and Nova Scotians before making a decision

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HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia legislature committee is recommending that the province raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour six months earlier than planned. 

The committee says the minimum wage should rise to $14.50 on April 1 and then to $15 per hour on Oct. 1 in order to manage “unforeseen increases in inflation.”

Labour Minister Jill Balser says her department will consult with business owners and Nova Scotians before making a decision.

Balser told reporters following a cabinet meeting that her department has until early February to decide.

In last year’s review, the committee recommended the province raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by April 1, 2024.

Those recommendations were accepted by government.

In Nova Scotia about seven per cent of workers, or 28,500 people, worked for minimum wage between April 2021 and March 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press