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Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance)

made under Sections 50 and 52 of the

Labour Standards Code

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 246

O.I.C. 2003-507 (effective December 12, 2003), N.S. Reg. 202/2003

amended to O.I.C. 2023-26 (effective March 6, 2023), N.S. Reg. 28/2023



Table of Contents


Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.
Click here to go to the text of the regulations.

 

Citation

Application

Definitions

Employer’s responsibilities

Minimum wage

Notice of adjustments

Method of payment

Hours of work

Overtime


 


Citation

1        These regulations may be cited as the Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance).


Application

2        (1)    Subject to subsection (2), this Order applies within the Province of Nova Scotia to all employees employed in construction, property maintenance work and related activities and their employers, and includes employees who are engaged in the following work and their employers:

 

                   (a)      construction, restoration or maintenance of

 

                              (i)      roads, streets, sidewalks, structures or bridges,

 

                              (ii)     paving of all sorts, or

 

                              (iii)    water and sewer installations;

 

                   (b)     earth and rock moving or related works;

 

                   (c)      snow removal;

 

                   (d)     primary production of raw construction materials, including primary production work in a saw mill;

 

                   (e)      work in a machine shop; or

 

                   (f)      metal fabrication.

 

          (2)    This Order does not apply to

 

                   (a)      employees of a municipality who are engaged in street construction, restoration or maintenance;

 

                   (b)     persons receiving training under government-sponsored and government-approved plans;

 

                   (c)      apprentices under apprenticeship agreements in accordance with the Apprenticeship and Trades Qualifications Act;

 

                   (d)     employees of enterprises engaged in maintaining the sanitation or security of buildings;

 

                   (e)      employees engaged in suppling materials for shipbuilding, ship repair, oil and gas industries, or related activities other than retail;

 

                   (f)      employees who are duly qualified practitioners, students or professionals exempted under subsection 2(2), (2A) or (2C) of the regulations respecting labour standards; and

 

                   (g)     employees who are supervisors or managers or who hold confidential positions exempted under subsection 2(2B) of the regulations respecting labour standards.


Definitions

2A     (1)    In this Order,

 

“annual Consumer Price Index” means the “all-items”, annual, Consumer Price Index for Canada published by Statistics Canada under the Statistics Act (Canada);

 

“projected annual Consumer Price Index” means the estimate of the annual Consumer Price Index for a given year calculated by adding the Consumer Price Index values for the months of January through November in the year preceding the year for which the estimate is to be determined and dividing the sum by 11.

 

          (2)    Words defined in the Labour Standards Code and the regulations made under the Labour Standards Code have the same meaning when used in this Order.


Employer’s responsibilities

3        No employer is permitted to employ an employee at a rate of wages less than the minimum wage fixed by this Order or otherwise violate or fail to observe any provision of this Order.


Minimum wage

4        (1)    [repealed]

 

          (2)    [repealed]

 

          (3)    The minimum wage for employees under this Order is fixed at the hourly rate set out in the following table:


Effective Date

Rate

October 1, 2022

$13.60

April 1, 2023

$14.50

October 1, 2023

$15.00

 

          (4)    Effective on and after April 1, 2024, the minimum wage for employees to whom this Order applies is fixed at the wage rate in effect on April 1, 2023, adjusted by the percentage change in the projected annual Consumer Price Index for 2023, plus an additional 1%, and rounded to the nearest $0.05.

 

          (5)    Effective on and after every April 1 beginning in 2025, the minimum wage for employees to whom this Order applies is fixed at the current hourly rate adjusted by the percentage change in the projected annual Consumer Price Index for the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the adjustment occurs, plus an additional 1%, and rounded to the nearest $0.05.

 

          (6)    If the calculation required by subsection (4) or (5) results in an hourly rate that is less than the current hourly rate, there is no adjustment and the minimum wage remains fixed at the current hourly rate.


Notice of adjustments

4A     (1)    The Minister shall give public notice of any adjustments to the minimum wage as calculated under subsection 4(4) or 4(5) by publishing a notice in the Royal Gazette Part I no later than January 31 of the year in which the adjustment is to take effect.

 

          (2)    No later than April 1, every employer of employees affected by this Order shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous place in the employer’s establishment or plant a copy of any public notice given by the Minister under subsection (1) so that all employees affected thereby may have ready access to and see the same.


Method of payment

5        Wages must be paid promptly at regular intervals in accordance with the practice of the employment and at least semi-monthly.


Hours of work

6        The rates fixed by this Order are for a maximum work period of 110 hours within 2 consecutive weeks commencing on a Sunday and concluding on the 2nd following Saturday, or such 14-day period that the employer establishes as the customary pay period.


Overtime

7        If an employee is required to work more than the maximum work period specified in Section 6, their employer must pay for the additional hours at a rate of not less than 1.5 times the employee’s regular hourly rate.


 

 


 

Legislative History
Reference Tables

Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance)

N.S. Reg. 202/2003

Labour Standards Code

Note:  The information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance) made under the Labour Standards Code includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.
Regulation

In force
date*

How in force

Royal Gazette
Part II Issue

202/2003

Dec 12, 2003

date specified

Dec 1, 2003

110/2005

May 27, 2005

date specified

Jun 10, 2005

172/2005

Aug 26, 2005

date specified

Sep 16, 2005

57/2007

May 1, 2007

date specified

Mar 2, 2007

123/2008

May 1, 2008

date specified

Apr 11, 2008

258/2011

Sep 5, 2011

date specified (10 days after date of publication in Royal Gazette)

Aug 26, 2011

15/2016

Jan 19, 2016

date specified

Feb 5, 2016

3/2019

Jan 28, 2019

date specified

Jan 18, 2019

13/2020

Apr 1, 2020

date specified

Feb 14, 2020

20/2022

Oct 1, 2022

date specified

Feb 25, 2022

28/2023

Mar 6, 2023

date specified

Feb 24, 2023

The following regulations are not yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.
Regulation

In force
date*

How in force

Royal Gazette
Part II Issue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added
am. = amended

fc. = fee change
ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed
rs. = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

2(2)(f) to 2(2)(g)...............................

ad. 172/2005

2A.....................................................

ad. 258/2011

2A(1), defn. of “Consumer Price Index”.......................................

am. 15/2016

2A(1), defn. of “Low Income (Before Tax) Cut-Off”.............

rep. 15/2016

2A(1), defn. of “projected annual Consumer Price Index”............

ad. 15/2016

4........................................................

rs. 110/2005, 57/2007, 123/2008, 258/2011

4(1)..............................................

rep. 15/2016

4(2)..............................................

rep. 15/2016;
ad. 13/20201rep. 20/2022

4(3)..............................................

am. 15/2016; rs. 3/2019, 13/2020, 20/2022, 28/2023

4(3A) ..........................................

ad. 3/2019; am. 20/2022; rep. 28/2023

4(4)..............................................

am. 3/2019; rs. 28/2023

4(5)-6).........................................

ad. 28/2023

4A.....................................................

ad. 258/2011

4A(1)...........................................

am. 15/2016, 3/2019, 13/2020, 20/2022, 28/2023

Note that changes to headings are not included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections:

 

Note

Effective
date

1

The amendment to s. 4 by N.S. Reg. 13/2020 contains instructions to add s. 4(2), but does not specify where to insert it. The amendment has been applied by inserting s. 4(2) immediately after s. 4(1) for the purposes of this consolidation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repealed and Superseded:

N.S.
Regulation

Title

In force
date

Repealed
date

103/1991

Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry) (sets minimum wage effective January 1, 1989)

Oct 1, 1991

Jan 1, 1993

239/1992

Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry)

Jan 1, 1993

Oct 1, 1996

89/1996

Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry)

Oct 1, 1996

Oct 1, 1999

5/1999

Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry)

Oct 1, 1999

Dec 12, 2003

Note:  Only regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced and for which consolidated versions exist appear in this table.  It may not reflect the entire history of regulations on this subject matter.