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April 30, 2026PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT AND AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS, FEBRUARY 2026 Monthly (February 2026 vs January 2026, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 465,297 payroll employees in February 2026, up 0.14% (+638) compared to January 2026, the only increase along with Alberta. Canada had 18.28 million employees, down 0.33% from January 2026 with declines in eight provinces. The steepest decline was reported in Prince Edward Island.
Nova Scotians' average weekly earnings were $1,205.85 in February 2026, a gain of $4.03 (+0.34%) from January 2026.
Nationally, average weekly earnings were $1,338.24, a gain of 1.44% (+$18.95) from average weekly earnings in January 2026. Seven provinces reported gains in average weekly earnings with the fastest gain in Ontario. The fastest decline was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings in February 2026 were the second lowest among provinces, ahead of Prince Edward Island. Ontario 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 February 2026 for: arts/entertainment/recreation.)
In February 2026, Nova Scotia's average weekly wages were 90.1% 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 (98.9% of the national average). The largest gap was reported in public administration (83.5% of the national average).
Year-over-year (February 2026 vs February 2025)
Compared with the same month in 2025, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased by 1.1% (+5,181) in February 2026. Nationally, payroll employment edged down 0.01%, despite 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, arts/entertainment/recreation sectors, and were not available for February 2025 for: forestry/logging.)
Personal/repair services had the fastest year-over-year growth in payroll employment in Nova Scotia, followed by construction. Administrative support/call centres and retail trade reported fastest declines in payroll employment.
Average weekly wages grew by 5.3% in Nova Scotia from February 2025 to February 2026. This was stronger than the national pace of 3.4%.
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 6.0% in Nova Scotia's goods-producing industries and also up 5.0% in Nova Scotia's services-producing industries. All of the reported industries except finance/insurance had year-over-year growth in average weekly wages with the largest increase in administrative support/call centres.
(Note: data are not available for Nova Scotia's utilities, mining, information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing sectors, arts/entertainment/recreation and were not available for February 2025 for: forestry/logging.)
Year-to-date (January-February 2026 vs January-February 2025)
In the first two months of 2026, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased 0.9%. This was faster than the national average of 0.1% as all provinces reported growth except Québec and Ontario. The fastest year-to-date growth was reported in Saskatchewan.
Personal/repair, professional/technical services, and construction reported the fastest growth in payroll employment in the first two months of 2026 in Nova Scotia. The fastest decline was reported in retail trade.
In January-February 2026, average weekly earnings grew 5.0% in Nova Scotia compared to the same period last year, the second fastest gain among provinces. National average weekly earnings grew 2.6% with all provinces reporting growth over this period. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest growth while Alberta reported the slowest.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were highest in company management, finance/insurance, and public administration in the first two months of the year (among industries with available data for this period). Average weekly earnings among payroll employees grew the fastest for company management, transportation, and health/social assistance. Finance/insurance reported lower average weekly earnings, year-to-date.
(Note: data are not available for January 2025 for: professional/technical services.)
Nova Scotian average weekly earnings were below the national average for all reported industries except health/social assistance in the first two months of 2026 (average: 90.6%). The gap was smallest for company management (98.8% of the national average). The gap was largest for public administration (83.7% of the national average).
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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