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June 25, 2026PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT AND AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS, APRIL 2026 Monthly (April 2026 vs March 2026, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 467,383 payroll employees in April 2026, up 0.25% (+1,156) compared to March 2026. Canada had 18.33 million employees, up 0.12% from March 2026 with gains in seven provinces. The steepest decline was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador. The fastest gain was reported in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotians' average weekly earnings were $1,221.52 in April 2026, a gain of $8.89 (+0.73%) from March 2026.
Nationally, average weekly earnings were $1,345.79, a gain of 0.97% (+$12.96) from average weekly earnings in March 2026. All provinces reported gains in average weekly earnings, except Prince Edward Island, with the fastest gains in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings in April 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 April 2026 for: arts/entertainment/recreation.)
In April 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 largest gap was reported in public administration (83.0% of the national average).
Year-over-year (April 2026 vs April 2025)
Compared with the same month in 2025, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased by 1.4% (+6,290) in April 2026. Nationally, payroll employment rose 0.4%, with gains in all provinces, except Prince Edward Island. The fastest gain was reported in Saskatchewan.
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.)
Health care/social assistance, professional/technical, construction, and company management had the fastest year-over-year growth in payroll employment in Nova Scotia. Transportation reported the fastest decline in payroll employment.
Average weekly wages grew by 5.9% in Nova Scotia from April 2025 to April 2026. This was stronger than the national pace of 3.8%.
There were average weekly wage gains in each province. New Brunswick reported the fastest gain while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the slowest gain.
Average weekly wages were up 7.2% in Nova Scotia's goods-producing industries and up 5.7% in Nova Scotia's services-producing industries. All of the reported industries, except finance and insurance, had year-over-year growth in average weekly wages with the largest increase in construction and transportation.
(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 April 2025 for: forestry/logging.)
Year-to-date (January-April 2026 vs January-April 2025)
In the first four months of 2026, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased 1.1%. This was faster than the national average of 0.3% as seven provinces reported growth. The fastest year-to-date growth was reported in Saskatchewan and the largest decline was reported in Québec.
Professional/technical services and construction reported the fastest growth in payroll employment in the first four months of 2026 in Nova Scotia. The fastest decline was reported in transportation.
In January-April 2026, average weekly earnings grew 5.4% in Nova Scotia compared to the same period last year, the third fastest gain among provinces (just behind New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island). National average weekly earnings grew 3.0% 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 four months of the year (among industries with available data for this period). Average weekly earnings among payroll employees grew the fastest for company management and health/social assistance. Finance/insurance reported lower average weekly earnings year-to-date.
(Note: data are not available for January 2026 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 four months of 2026 (average: 90.8%). The gap was smallest for company management (99.1% of the national average). The gap was largest for public administration (83.4% 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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