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October 29, 2026PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT AND AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS, AUGUST 2026 Monthly (August 2026 vs July 2026, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 469,535 payroll employees in August 2026, up 0.22% (+1,023) compared to July 2026. Canada had 18.37 million employees, down 0.27% from July 2026 with declines in six provinces. The steepest decline was reported in Prince Edward Island. The fastest gain was reported in Québec.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were $1,220.93 in August 2026, a decline of $10.17 (-0.83%) from July 2026.
Nationally, average weekly earnings were $1,354.55, a gain of 0.53% (+$7.20) from average weekly earnings in July 2026. Seven provinces reported gains in average weekly earnings, with the fastest gain in Manitoba. The fastest decline was reported in Saskatchewan.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings in August 2026 were the second lowest among provinces, only ahead of Prince Edward Island. Alberta reported the highest average weekly earnings.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were highest in company management, finance/insurance, and professional/technical industries. The lowest average weekly earnings were reported in Nova Scotia's accommodations/food service and retail trade industries.
(Note: data are not available for Nova Scotia's forestry/logging, information/culture, utilities, mining/quarrying/oil/gas, arts/entertainment/recreation and real estate/rental/leasing sectors.)
In August 2026, Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were 90.1% of the national average. Nova Scotia average weekly earnings were below the comparable national average for every industry except health/social assistance. The largest gap was reported in public administration (82.4% of the national average).
Year-over-year (August 2026 vs August 2025)
Compared with the same month in 2025, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased by 1.1% (+5,239) in August 2026. Nationally, payroll employment rose 0.3%, with gains in all provinces except Ontario. The fastest gains were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, and Alberta.
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 information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing, utilities, mining, and arts/entertainment/recreation sectors.)
Health care/social assistance and wholesale trade had the fastest year-over-year growth in payroll employment in Nova Scotia. Forestry/logging reported the fastest decline in payroll employment.
Average weekly earnings grew by 3.6% in Nova Scotia from August 2025 to August 2026. This was slightly weaker than the national pace of 3.7%.
There were average weekly wage gains in each province. New Brunswick reported the fastest gain while Québec reported the slowest gain.
Average weekly earnings were up 4.1% in Nova Scotia's goods-producing industries and up 3.5% in Nova Scotia's services-producing industries. All of the reported industries, except public administration and accommodation/food services, had year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings with the largest increases in company management and retail trade.
(Note: data are not available for Nova Scotia's information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing, forestry/logging, utilities, mining, and arts/entertainment/recreation sectors.)
Year-to-date (January-August 2026 vs January-August 2025)
In the first eight months of 2026, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased 1.1%. This was faster than the national average of 0.5% as nine provinces reported growth. The fastest year-to-date growth was reported in Saskatchewan. The only decline was reported in Prince Edward Island.
Construction reported the fastest growth in payroll employment in the first eight months of 2026 in Nova Scotia. The fastest decline was reported in finance/insurance.
In January-August 2026, average weekly earnings grew 5.3% in Nova Scotia compared to the same period last year, the fastest gain among provinces. National average weekly earnings grew 3.2% with all provinces reporting growth over this period. The slowest gain was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were highest in company management, finance/insurance, construction, and public administration in the first eight 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 retail trade. The slowest gain was reported in public administration 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 eight months of 2026 (average: 90.9%). The gap was smallest for accommodation/food services (97.8% of the national average). The gap was largest for public administration (83.2% 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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