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March 26, 2026PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT AND AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS, JANUARY 2026 Monthly (January 2026 vs December 2025, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 465,451 payroll employees in January 2026, down 0.22% (-1,031) compared to December 2025. Canada had 18.34 million employees, up 0.25% from December 2025 with gains in eight provinces. The largest gain was reported in Prince Edward Island. The declines were reported in Nova Scotia and Québec.
Nova Scotians' average weekly earnings were $1,198.75 in January 2026, a gain of $20.17 (+1.71%) from December 2025.
Nationally, average weekly earnings were $1,320.46, a gain of 0.30% (+$3.98) from average weekly earnings in December 2025. Eight provinces reported gains in average weekly earnings with the fastest gains in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. The declines were reported in Prince Edward Island and Québec.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings in January 2026 were the second lowest among provinces, ahead of Prince Edward Island. Alberta reported the highest average weekly earnings.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were highest in company management, professional/technical, and finance/insurance services industries. The lowest average weekly earnings were reported in Nova Scotia's accommodations/food service industries, and retail trade.
(Note: data are not available for Nova Scotia's utilities, mining, information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing sectors, and were not available in January 2026 for: arts/entertainment/recreation.)
In January 2026, Nova Scotia's average weekly wages were 90.8% of the national average. Nova Scotia average weekly wages were below the comparable national average for every industry except health/social assistance. The smallest gap was reported in company management (99.8% of the national average). The largest gap was reported in public administration (83.8% of the national average).
Year-over-year (January 2026 vs January 2025)
Compared with the same month in 2025, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased by 0.9% (+4,263) in January 2026. Nationally, payroll employment increased 0.2%, with gains in eight provinces. The fastest gain was reported in Saskatchewan while the declines were reported in Québec and Ontario.
Among the industries reported on by Statistics Canada, Nova Scotia's largest industries of employment were health care/social assistance (which includes daycares), followed by retail trade and education.
(Note: data are not available for Nova Scotia's utilities, mining, information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing sectors, and were not available for January 2026 for: arts/entertainment/recreation, and were not available for January 2025 for: forestry/logging.)
Professional/technical services had the fastest year-over-year growth in payroll employment in Nova Scotia, followed by construction. Wholesale trade, retail trade, and transportation reported fastest declines in payroll employment.
Average weekly wages grew by 4.4% in Nova Scotia from January 2025 to January 2026. This was stronger than the national pace of 2.0%.
There were average weekly wage gains in each province. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest gain while Alberta reported the slowest gain.
Average weekly wages were up 2.5% in Nova Scotia's goods-producing industries and also up 4.7% in Nova Scotia's services-producing industries. All of the reported industries except finance/insurance, wholesale trade, personal/repair services, and public administration had year-over-year growth in average weekly wages with the largest increase in company management.
(Note: data are not available for Nova Scotia's utilities, mining, information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing sectors, and were not available for January 2026 for: arts/entertainment/recreation, and were not available for January 2025 for: forestry/logging.)
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0222-01 Employment, average hourly and weekly earnings (including overtime), and average weekly hours for the industrial aggregate excluding unclassified businesses, monthly, seasonally adjusted; Table 14-10-0223-01 Employment and average weekly earnings (including overtime) for all employees by province and territory, monthly, seasonally adjusted
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