Wages
The median hourly wage for employees at the national level rose from $26.00 to $27.00, which means it grew by 3.8% (or $1.00) in 2022. This brings the growth path of wages closer to its historical pattern, following a large increase of 6.3% in 2020 – mainly driven by job losses among low-wage earners due to COVID-19.
Nova Scotia experienced a 4.3% increase in the median hourly wage in 2022.
- The median wage for the goods-producing sector grew by 4.2% while increasing in the service-producing sector by 3.8% in 2022 compared to 2021.
- The median wage for the services-producing sector grew by an average of 3.2% from 2017 through 2022, while the median wage in the goods-producing sector grew by an average of 2.6%.
- The median hourly wage for males increased by 4.2% in 2022, whereas the growth observed for females was 4.1%, compared to 2021.
- Over the five-year period between 2017 and 2022, wages increased on average by 3.0% for females and by 2.9% for males.
- Between 2021 and 2022, median hourly wages for full-time employment increased by 2.9%, outpaced by part-time median wages increasing by 4.2%.
Wages by Province
Nova Scotia’s year-over-year increase in the median hourly wage ranked 4th among the ten provinces at 4.3%. The national wage growth was 3.8%.
- Quebec demonstrated the highest wage growth in the country by this measure at 7.8%, followed by Prince Edward Island at 5.5% and New Brunswick at 4.8%.
- Nova Scotia had the second-lowest median hourly wage among provinces at $23.08, ahead of only Prince Edward Island at $23.07. Both provinces held the same rankings in 2021.
- The highest median wage rate in the country in 2022 was in Alberta, at $28.85.
Unionized Wages
In 2022, Nova Scotia’s median hourly wage for unionized employees ($29.90) was $9.27 higher than for non-unionized employees ($20.63). When compared to 2021, the province’s median hourly wage growth for unionized and non-unionized wages was 3.2% for both.
New Brunswick had the highest growth in median hourly wages for unionized employees (9.6%) and Prince Edward Island had the highest growth in hourly wages for non-unionized employees (10.9%) in 2022 compared to 2021.
