Monthly (February 2025 vs January 2025, seasonally adjusted)

The number of active businesses in Nova Scotia declined by 0.31% from January 2025 to February 2025, falling to 20,916 active businesses.

Nationally, active businesses were essentially unchanged (+0.001%). Six provinces reported lower numbers of active businesses in February 2025 compared with January 2025. The largest decline was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador followed closely by Nova Scotia, while the largest gain was in British Columbia.

A business will be classified as 'opening' if it had no employment in the previous month and then has employment in the next month. A business is 'closing' if it had employment in the previous month and no employment in the current month. For opening and closing, the reason could be a permanent change (i.e. business exit) or temporary for reasons such as seasonal operations, capital maintenance or restructuring. Continuing business are those that had employment in both the current and previous month. Active businesses are the sum of continuing and opening business in the current month.

The rate at which business either opened, continued or closed can be examined to see how the number of active businesses has changed. The calculation for the opening, continuing and closure rates are based on the number of active businesses in the previous month. 

Most businesses continue operating each month. In February 2025, Nova Scotia's business continuing rate was 95.2%, same as the national average. Québec reported the highest business continuing rates (96.8%) while Newfoundland and Labrador (94.6%) reported the lowest.

Nova Scotia's business opening rate was 4.6% in February 2025, below the national average of 4.8%. Alberta had the highest business opening rate (5.3%) while Québec had the lowest (3.6%).

Nova Scotia's business closing rate was 4.9% in February 2025, above as the national average 4.8%. Prince Edward Island reported the highest business closing rate (5.3%), followed closely by Alberta, while Québec had the lowest business closing rate (3.5%).

Year-over-year (February 2025 vs February 2024)

Compared with February 2024, the number of active businesses was up 0.21% for Nova Scotia. Nationally, active businesses were down 0.15% compared to February 2024. Alberta reported the largest increase in active businesses and Ontario reported the largest year-over-year decline in active businesses. 

The number of active businesses in the Halifax and East Hants Census Metropolitan Area was up 0.9% from February 2024 to February 2025.   

Out of 35 CMAs, 18 reported growth in active businesses over the past 12 months. Calgary and Saskatoon reported the largest rises in the number of active businesses while Thunder Bay reported the largest decline.

Compared with February 2024, eight sectors saw an increase in active businesses in Nova Scotia in February 2025 with the largest increase (in percentage terms) in forestry/fishing and arts/entertainment/recreation. The steepest decline was in mining/oil/gas. 

Nationally, the number of active businesses was down for all business sector industries except utilities and arts/entertainment/recreation, with the largest declines in mining/oil/gas and wholesale industries.

Statistics Canada has broken out specific data for tourism-related industries. Compared with February 2024, the number of active tourism-related businesses rose 1.6% in Nova Scotia as of February 2025, with gains in four of the five sectors. Recreation/entertainment reported the fastest year-over-year growth in active tourism businesses in Nova Scotia, while accommodations reported the only decline.

Nationally the number of tourism-related businesses increased 0.01% from February 2024 to February 2025. Transportation reported the fastest growth while travel services reported the largest decline.

Trends

There has been a downward trend in forestry/fishing active businesses with the last three months showing slight gain in active businesses. Mining/quarrying has been steadily declining and but was slowly growing in the last 3 months. Utilities exhibited a peak in November 2024 followed by a small decline in December and remained stable thereafter.

From 2020-2025, the number of active businesses in construction grew at a steady pace with a slight dip in recent months. Manufacturing businesses have remained stable for the past 3 years.

There have been small gains in active businesses for personal/repair, decelerating in the most recent month, and small gains in arts/recreation in recent months, but these sectors have remained somewhat stable since 2023. Accommodation/food services has been stable in recent months, after a slow decline in active businesses since peaking in May of 2024.

Retail and wholesale businesses have declined in the past two years.

Active businesses in transportation dipped slightly in recent months. The number of active businesses in real estate/leasing have recently declined and administrative/support/call centers have seen modest growth in recent months.

Professional/technical services active businesses have declined in recent months after steady gains in the last two years. The decline in finance/insurance/management businesses has slowed, while the number of active businesses in information/culture has been stable.  

The source data is seasonally adjusted. The data may not aggregate due to firms being classified into multiple industry or geography.

Source: Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0270-01 Experimental estimates for business openings and closures for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas; Methodology: Business Opening and Closing

Statistics Canada has released results from the Canadian Income Survey, reporting on incomes for 2023.  This includes food security, median incomes as well as Canada's official poverty rate, as assessed against the Market Basket Measure threshold.

Note that there were significant government income supports during the COVID-19 pandemic which drove a large decline in the poverty rates for 2020 and 2021. These supports were largely withdrawn by 2022 while there was a significant acceleration in inflation.  

Poverty Rates

The Market Basket Measure (MBM) estimates the share of the population that do not have sufficient income for a reference family to afford the cost of a basket of essential goods and services.  The MBM threshold is estimated for specific communities.  In Nova Scotia, there are separate thresholds for MBM in Halifax, Cape Breton, communities with populations between 30,000 and 100,000, communities with populations under 30,000 and rural areas.  The Market Basket has recently been updated to 2018, with historical estimates provided back to 2015.  These data are collected through the Canadian Income Survey.  Indicators of poverty and income for smaller sub-components of the population may be of limited data quality.

The poverty rate was 12.9% in Nova Scotia in 2023, down from 13.1% in 2022.  This was tied for the highest poverty rate among provinces (with Saskatchewan).  Nationally, 10.2% of the population were below the MBM poverty threshold.  The lowest poverty rate was in Québec.

Poverty rates increased in six provinces from 2022 to 2023.  Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador reported the sharpest increases in poverty rates while Alberta reported the largest decline in poverty rate.  

The number of Nova Scotians in poverty rose to 132,000 in 2023 - up 2,000 from the previous year.  Faster growth in the population resulted in a declining poverty rate.

Family structure is a significant correlate for poverty rates.  The largest number of families are non-elderly couples with children, followed by elderly couple families, non-elderly persons not in an economic family and other non-elderly families.    

Non-elderly persons are the largest single cohort among those living in poverty in every province.

The poverty rate for couple economic families without children was 7.1% in Nova Scotia in 2023.  This was above the national average of 6.1% (highest: Prince Edward Island, lowest: Québec).

Nova Scotia's poverty rate for couple families with children was down slightly from 2022-2023. Seven provinces reported rising poverty rates for couple families with children.

In Nova Scotia, 9.5% of couple families with children were below the MBM poverty line in 2023 - this was just behind Saskatchewan for the highest poverty rate among couple families with children.  The national poverty rate for couple families with children was 6.7% (lowest: Québec).

Poverty rates among couple families with children rose in all provinces except Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

Lone parent families have historically had higher poverty rates than for couple economic families.  In Nova Scotia, 26.5% of those in lone parent families lived in poverty, above the national average of 24.8% for these families.  Lone parent poverty was highest in Newfoundland and Labrador and lowest in Québec.

Nova Scotia's poverty rate among lone parent families declined by 5 percentage points from 2022 to 2023, the steepest decline among provinces.  Lone parent poverty rates were up for 5 provinces.

Persons not in economic families report the highest poverty rates.  In 2023, 34.6% of Nova Scotians who were not in an economic family lived in poverty.  This is above the national average.  Persons not in economic families reported the highest poverty rates in Newfoundland and Labrador and the lowest poverty rates in Québec (though this was still 26.5%).

Nova Scotia's poverty rates for persons not in economic families decreased in 2023.  Six provinces reported increases in poverty rates for persons not in an economic family from 2022 to 2023.

Persons in economic families (excl. lone parents) made up the largest number of persons in poverty in Nova Scotia, followed by non-elderly persons not in an economic family.  

The average poverty gap reports the difference between the MBM threshold and family income, stated as a percentage of the threshold.  For all Nova Scotians living in poverty in 2023, the gap was 29.4% of the MBM threshold, which was the smallest gap among provinces.  For each major family structure, Nova Scotia's poverty gap was smaller than the national average.  Nova Scotia's poverty gap ratio was smallest for lone parent families (26.2%) as well as for couples with children (22.4%).  Non-elderly persons not in an economic family had both the highest poverty rates and poverty gap ratios.

Nova Scotia's average poverty gap ratios improved in 2023, reflecting gains for all family structures.  

The majority of those living in poverty in Nova Scotia are between the ages of 18 and 64 years old.  This is the case across the country, where this age cohort is clearly the largest part of the population.  

The child poverty rate in Nova Scotia was 15.2% in 2023 - the second highest poverty rate for this age cohort after Saskatchewan.  The national child poverty rate was 10.7% with the lowest poverty in Québec.

Every province except Manitoba and Alberta reported an increase in child poverty rates in 2023.  Prince Edward Island reported the largest rise in the child poverty rate.  

The poverty rate for those aged 18-64 was 13.9% in Nova Scotia, which was also the second highest among provinces (after Saskatchewan).  The poverty rates for those aged 18-64 was 11.6% nationally with the lowest rates in Alberta and Québec.

Poverty rates for those aged 18-64 increased in all provinces except Manitoba and Alberta in 2023.  

Nova Scotia's poverty rate among seniors was 8.6% - the highest rate among the provinces for this cohort.  The national seniors poverty rate was 5.0% with the lowest value in Québec.

Seniors' poverty declined in all provinces except Québec in 2023. 

Among the population aged 65 and older, the number of Nova Scotians who live in poverty is highly concentrated among elderly persons not in an economic family.  Of the 19,000 seniors in poverty in Nova Scotia, 14,000 of them were not in economic families, and of these a disproportionate number were women (9,000).  

Poverty rates among elderly Nova Scotians not in an economic family were notably higher than for similar cohorts in other provinces, a phenomenon that emerged particularly in 2022 and continued in 2023.

The largest number of Nova Scotians living in poverty in 2023 were between the ages of 18 and 64: 85,000.  There were more children (27,000) than seniors (19,000) living in poverty in Nova Scotia in 2023.

There were more females (69,000) than males (63,000) in poverty in Nova Scotia in 2023.  In most provinces (Québec and Saskatchewan excepted), females make up a larger portion of those living in poverty.  

The male poverty rate was 12.6% in Nova Scotia in 2023 - highest among provinces.  The male poverty rate was 10.1% nationally with the lowest poverty rate in Québec.

Male poverty rates increased for six provinces in 2023.  Nova Scotia's male poverty rate declined in 2023.

The female poverty rate was 13.3% in Nova Scotia in 2023, the second highest female poverty rate after Saskatchewan.  The national female poverty rate was 10.2% in 2023, with the the lowest female poverty rate in Québec.

Female poverty rates rose in seven provinces in 2023, including Nova Scotia.

The poverty rate among Nova Scotia males in economic families was 8.5% in 2023 - the second highest rate for this cohort after Saskatchewan.  Nationally, males in economic families had a poverty rate of 6.7% with the lowest prevalence in Québec.

Poverty rates for males in economic families were up in seven provinces (including Nova Scotia) in 2023.

The poverty rate for females in an economic family in Nova Scotia was 9.0% in 2023 - second highest among provinces after Saskatchewan.  Nationally, the poverty rate for females in an economic family was 7.2% with the lowest value in Québec.

Poverty rates for females in economic families increased in seven provinces (including Nova Scotia) in 2023.

Nova Scotia's poverty rate for males not in an economic family was substantially higher (than for males in an economic family) at 30.7% in 2023. Nova Scotia reported the highest poverty rate for this cohort, just ahead of Ontario.  Nationally, the poverty rate among males not in an economic family was 26.7% with the lowest poverty rates in Alberta and Québec.

Poverty rates for males not in an economic family decreased in every province except Saskatchewan, Ontario (unchanged). 

Nova Scotia's poverty rate for females not in an economic family was 30.6% in 2023 - the highest among provinces and substantially higher than for females in an economic family.   Nationally, females not in an economic family had a poverty rate of 24.8% with the lowest value in Québec.

Poverty rates for females not in an economic family decreased in six provinces (including Nova Scotia) in 2023.

The number of females in poverty outnumbered males in poverty by 6,000. 

Statistics Canada's reported poverty rates now include categories for racialized persons (defined as identifying with 'visible minority' populations). 

Poverty rates among those who identify with a visible minority category were substantially higher in Nova Scotia (21.6%) than for those who identified neither as Indigenous nor as a visible minority (11.3%).  Visible minority populations reported higher poverty rates in all provinces.  The largest gaps between the poverty rates for visible minority populations and those who identified neither as Indigenous nor as a visible minority were reported in Atlantic Canada (particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island).

Threshold

The threshold for the poverty rate varies by province and community size.  In Nova Scotia, the income required for a reference family (2 adults, 2 children) to afford a basic standard of living ranged from $50,634 in Cape Breton RM to $54,966 in Halifax.  The highest thresholds were reported in larger cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa.  The lowest thresholds were in smaller communities of Québec.

Compared with the thresholds from 2022, Nova Scotia's Market Basket Measure threholds increased by between 4.86% and 4.92%.  MBM threshold levels grew faster in the Québec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Notes and definitions

The Canadian Income Survey estimates are based on probability samples and are therefore subject to sampling variability. As a result, estimates will show more variability than trends observed over longer time periods.

The market basket measure (MBM) of poverty is based on the cost of a specific basket of goods and services representing a modest, basic standard of living. It includes the costs of food, clothing, footwear, transportation, shelter and other expenses for a reference family. These costs are compared with the disposable income of families to determine whether or not they fall below the poverty line.

An economic family refers to a group of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling and are related to each other by blood, marriage, common-law union, adoption or a foster relationship. This concept differs from the census family concept used for subprovincial data in the Annual Income Estimates for Census Families and Individuals.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Income Survey. Table  11-10-0135-01   Low income statistics by age, sex and economic family type; Table  11-10-0136-01   Low income statistics by economic family type; Table 11-10-0093-01  Poverty and low-income statistics by selected demographic characteristics

Median incomes

Median incomes are the level of income at which half the population had higher income and half had lower income.  Median incomes are frequently used in making income comparisons because, unlike averages, they are not influenced by outliers with very high values. 

The median market income for all Nova Scotians (whether in an economic family or not) in 2023 was $56,100.  However, with more than one potential earner, median market incomes are substantially higher for couple families: $100,500 for couple families without children and $122,900 for couple families with children.  Median market incomes for Nova Scotia's lone parents ($44,400) were higher than for non-elderly persons not in an economic family ($38,300).  As many elderly persons are retired, their dependence on market sources of income is lower.   

Households don't just rely on market sources for income.  Government transfers such as Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance and Canada Child Benefit also make up a substantial part of household total income.  

Median government transfers for Nova Scotians were $11,400 in 2023.  Elderly families ($34,900) and elderly persons not in economic families ($22,200) reported the highest median government transfers, followed by lone parents ($16,400) and couple families with children ($9,600).  Couple families without children and non-elderly persons not in economic families reported much lower median government transfers.  

Total income includes market income and government transfers.

Median total income for all persons (whether in economic families or not) was $72,600 in 2023.  Couple families without children ($106,400) and with children ($135,800) reported the highest median total incomes owing to their higher median market incomes.  Elderly families ($77,700) and lone parent families ($64,000) reported the next highest median total incomes reflecting combined effects of market incomes and government transfers.  Persons not in economic families reported the lowest median total incomes ($41,900 for non-elderly persons not in economic families and $31,400 for elderly persons not in economic families).  

Government income taxes reduce disposable income available for household spending.

Median income taxes were $9,300 for all Nova Scotians.  This was highest for those in couple families (with or without children).

Median after-tax income was $62,900 in Nova Scotia.  Couple families with children ($113,600) reported the highest median after tax incomes, followed by couple families without children ($87,600), elderly families ($70,000) and lone parent families ($59,000).  Median after tax incomes were substantially lower for persons not in economic families ($36,700 for non-elderly persons not in economic families and $30,400 for elderly persons not in economic families).

Income distribution

Among economic families, 53.3% of Nova Scotian families had income above $100,000 in 2023 (61.5% nationally).  A further 26.5% reported incomes between $60,000 and $100,000 (22.9% nationally) while 13.5% reported incomes between $40,000 and $60,000 (10.2% nationally).  A total of 6.7% of Nova Scotia economic families reported income under $40,000 (5.4% nationally).

The distribution of income is notably different among persons not in an economic family.  Just 7.4% of Nova Scotians not in an economic family reported income over $100,000 (12.0% nationally).  Another 19.5% reported income between $60,000 and $100,000 (22.1% nationally) along with 20.4% that reported income between $40,000 and $60,000 (20.6% nationally).  Among Nova Scotians not in an economic family, 36.4% reported incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 (29.4% nationally) while 16.3% (16.1% nationally) reported income under $20,000 in 2023. 

Gini coefficient of income distribution

The Canadian Income Survey also reports the Gini coefficient measure of income distribution.  Gini coefficients range between zero (representing perfect equality in which all individuals have the same income) and one (representing perfect inequality in which only one person has all the income while others have none).  A higher Gini coefficient means greater income inequality. 

Gini coefficients can be measured for market income, total income (market income plus transfers) and after-tax income (total income less taxes).

By any income measure, Nova Scotia's Gini coefficient was below the national Gini coefficient, reflecting a more equal distribution of income (whether market, total or after-tax income). 

For market income, Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest Gini coefficient (most inequality) while Prince Edward Island had the lowest Gini coefficient (most equality).  

For both total income and after-tax income, Ontario had the highest Gini coefficients (most inequality) while Prince Edward Island had the lowest Gini coefficients (most equality).

Income inequality decreased from 2016 to 2019 at both the national and Nova Scotia levels.  This has been mainly caused by greater income equality in market sources. However, in 2020, Gini coefficients increased for market income (both provincially and at the national level) while total and after-tax inequality measures declined. This is due to the role of employment loss in low-wage occupations and extraordinary government transfers during the pandemic in 2020. 

In 2023, Nova Scotia Gini coefficients declined by more than the national average for all measures of income. Nationally there were slight declines in total and market measures of inequality, while the Gini coefficient for after-tax income was unchanged. 

Notes and definitions

The median is the level of income at which half the population had higher income and half had lower. Income estimates are expressed in 2018 constant dollars to factor in inflation and enable comparisons across time in real terms.

After-tax income is the total of market income and government transfers, less income tax.

Market income consists of employment income and private pensions, as well as income from investments and other market sources.

Government transfers include benefits such as Old Age Security, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Canada Pension Plan and the Quebec Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, social assistance, the goods and services tax credit, provincial tax credits, and various types of child benefits.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Income Survey. Table  11-10-0134-01   Gini coefficients of adjusted market, total and after-tax income; Table  11-10-0190-01   Market income, government transfers, total income, income tax and after-tax income by economic family type; Table 11-10-0237-01  Distribution of market, total and after-tax income by economic family type, Canada, provinces and selected census metropolitan areas (CMAs)

Statistics Canada reports on food security and insecurity as part of the Canadian Income Survey. Food insecurity refers to households that have inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints.

In Nova Scotia, 70.7% of the population was classified as 'food secure' in 2023. This was below the national average.  Food security was highest in Québec and lowest in Alberta.  

Food insecurity in Nova Scotia was 29.3%.  Food insecurity is categorized as: marginal, moderate or severe. Nova Scotia's marginal, moderate and severe food insecurity in Nova Scotia were above the national average.

Food security was strongest for elderly persons (whether in economic families or not) as well as for non-elderly couples without children.

Food insecurity was highest for Nova Scotia's lone parent families (48.6%) as well as for non-elderly persons not in an economic family (35.3%) and couple families with children (33.4%).

Although the portion of couple families with children that experience food insecurity was lower than for lone-parent families, this is a much larger cohort of the population and accounts for the largest cohort of persons living with food insecurity.

Food insecurity in Nova Scotia was highest for those aged 18-24 as well as for those under 18 years old. Food insecurity diminished with age.

The gap in food insecurity between visible minority populations (30.1%) and those who identify neither as Indigenous nor a visible minority (28.6%) is smaller than the national gap. All provinces except Prince Edward Island reported food insecurity among visible minority populations as higher than the rate among the population that was neither Indigenous nor visible minority. Québec reported the largest gap in food insecurity between visible minority populations and those who identified neither as Indigenous nor a visible minority. Nova Scotia reported the smallest gap in food insecurity.    

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Income Survey. Table 13-10-0835-01  Food insecurity by selected demographic characteristics; Table 13-10-0834-01  Food insecurity by economic family type