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July 30, 2026PAYROLL EMPLOYMENT AND AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS, MAY 2026 Monthly (May 2026 vs April 2026, seasonally adjusted)
Nova Scotia had 470,118 payroll employees in May 2026, up 0.32% (+1,488) compared to April 2026. Canada had 18.39 million employees, up 0.13% from April 2026 with gains in eight provinces. The fastest gains were reported in Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. Declines were reported in New Brunswick and Ontario.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were $1,217.66 in May 2026, a decline of $3.88 (-0.32%) from April 2026.
Nationally, average weekly earnings were $1,337.77, a decline of 0.43% (-$5.75) from average weekly earnings in April 2026. Eight provinces reported declines in average weekly earnings, with the steepest decline in New Brunswick. The fastest gain was reported in Prince Edward Island.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings in May 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 utilities, company management, professional/technical, and mining/quarrying/oil/gas 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 information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing sectors, and arts/entertainment/recreation.)
In May 2026, Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were 91.0% 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 mining/quarrying/oil/gas (70.7% of the national average).
Year-over-year (May 2026 vs May 2025)
Compared with the same month in 2025, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased by 1.7% (+7,709) in May 2026. Nationally, payroll employment rose 0.6%, with gains in all provinces except Prince Edward Island. The fastest gain was reported in 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, arts/entertainment/recreation sectors and are not available for Nova Scotia's utilities and mining sectors for May 2025.)
Company management, wholesale trade, and construction had the fastest year-over-year growth in payroll employment in Nova Scotia. Transportation reported the fastest decline in payroll employment.
Average weekly earnings grew by 5.3% in Nova Scotia from May 2025 to May 2026. This was stronger than the national pace of 3.4%.
There were average weekly wage gains in each province except Newfoundland and Labrador. Nova Scotia reported the fastest gain among provinces.
Average weekly earnings were up 3.8% in Nova Scotia's goods-producing industries and up 5.6% in Nova Scotia's services-producing industries. All of the reported industries, except wholesale trade and finance/insurance, had year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings with the largest increases in transportation and retail trade.
(Note: data are not available for Nova Scotia's information/culture, real estate/rental/leasing sectors, arts/entertainment/recreation and are not available for May 2025 for: utilities, mining, and forestry/logging.)
Year-to-date (January-May 2026 vs January-May 2025)
In the first five months of 2026, Nova Scotia's payroll employment increased 1.3%. This was faster than the national average of 0.4% as seven provinces reported growth. The fastest year-to-date growth was reported in Saskatchewan. The declines were reported in Prince Edward Island, Québec, and Ontario (essentially unchanged).
Company management and construction reported the fastest growth in payroll employment in the first five months of 2026 in Nova Scotia. The fastest decline was reported in transportation.
In January-May 2026, average weekly earnings grew 5.4% in Nova Scotia compared to the same period last year, the second fastest gain among provinces (just behind Prince Edward Island). National average weekly earnings grew 3.1% with all provinces reporting growth over this period. Prince Edward Island reported the fastest growth while Newfoundland and Labrador reported the slowest.
Nova Scotia's average weekly earnings were highest in company management, finance/insurance, and public administration in the first five 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 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 five months of 2026 (average: 90.9%). The gap was smallest for company management (98.4% of the national average). The gap was largest for public administration (83.5% 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