Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance)

This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only. For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Office of the Registrar of Regulations, or refer to the Royal Gazette Part II.

Regulations are amended frequently. Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with our office that are not yet included in this consolidation.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this electronic version, the Office of the Registrar of Regulations assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may have resulted from reformatting.

made under Sections 50 and 52 of the

Labour Standards Code

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 246

O.I.C. 2003-507 (effective December 12, 2003), N.S. Reg. 202/2003

amended to O.I.C. 2023-26 (effective March 6, 2023), N.S. Reg. 28/2023

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.
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Citation

Application

Definitions

Employer’s responsibilities

Minimum wage

Notice of adjustments

Method of payment

Hours of work

Overtime

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance).

Application

2 (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Order applies within the Province of Nova Scotia to all employees employed in construction, property maintenance work and related activities and their employers, and includes employees who are engaged in the following work and their employers:

(a) construction, restoration or maintenance of

(i) roads, streets, sidewalks, structures or bridges,

(ii) paving of all sorts, or

(iii) water and sewer installations;

(b) earth and rock moving or related works;

(d) primary production of raw construction materials, including primary production work in a saw mill;

(e) work in a machine shop; or

(f) metal fabrication.

(2) This Order does not apply to

(a) employees of a municipality who are engaged in street construction, restoration or maintenance;

(b) persons receiving training under government-sponsored and government-approved plans;

(d) employees of enterprises engaged in maintaining the sanitation or security of buildings;

(e) employees engaged in suppling materials for shipbuilding, ship repair, oil and gas industries, or related activities other than retail;

(f) employees who are duly qualified practitioners, students or professionals exempted under subsection 2(2), (2A) or (2C) of the regulations respecting labour standards; and

(g) employees who are supervisors or managers or who hold confidential positions exempted under subsection 2(2B) of the regulations respecting labour standards.

Definitions

2A (1) In this Order,

“annual Consumer Price Index” means the “all-items”, annual, Consumer Price Index for Canada published by Statistics Canada under the Statistics Act (Canada);

“projected annual Consumer Price Index” means the estimate of the annual Consumer Price Index for a given year calculated by adding the Consumer Price Index values for the months of January through November in the year preceding the year for which the estimate is to be determined and dividing the sum by 11.

(2) Words defined in the Labour Standards Code and the regulations made under the Labour Standards Code have the same meaning when used in this Order.

Employer’s responsibilities

3 No employer is permitted to employ an employee at a rate of wages less than the minimum wage fixed by this Order or otherwise violate or fail to observe any provision of this Order.

Minimum wage

4 (1) [repealed]

(2) [repealed]

(3) The minimum wage for employees under this Order is fixed at the hourly rate set out in the following table:

Effective Date	Rate
October 1, 2022	$13.60
April 1, 2023	$14.50
October 1, 2023	$15.00

(4) Effective on and after April 1, 2024, the minimum wage for employees to whom this Order applies is fixed at the wage rate in effect on April 1, 2023, adjusted by the percentage change in the projected annual Consumer Price Index for 2023, plus an additional 1%, and rounded to the nearest $0.05.

(5) Effective on and after every April 1 beginning in 2025, the minimum wage for employees to whom this Order applies is fixed at the current hourly rate adjusted by the percentage change in the projected annual Consumer Price Index for the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the adjustment occurs, plus an additional 1%, and rounded to the nearest $0.05.

(6) If the calculation required by subsection (4) or (5) results in an hourly rate that is less than the current hourly rate, there is no adjustment and the minimum wage remains fixed at the current hourly rate.

Notice of adjustments

4A (1) The Minister shall give public notice of any adjustments to the minimum wage as calculated under subsection 4(4) or 4(5) by publishing a notice in the Royal Gazette Part I no later than January 31 of the year in which the adjustment is to take effect.

(2) No later than April 1, every employer of employees affected by this Order shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous place in the employer’s establishment or plant a copy of any public notice given by the Minister under subsection (1) so that all employees affected thereby may have ready access to and see the same.

Method of payment

5 Wages must be paid promptly at regular intervals in accordance with the practice of the employment and at least semi-monthly.

Hours of work

6 The rates fixed by this Order are for a maximum work period of 110 hours within 2 consecutive weeks commencing on a Sunday and concluding on the 2nd following Saturday, or such 14-day period that the employer establishes as the customary pay period.

Overtime

7 If an employee is required to work more than the maximum work period specified in Section 6, their employer must pay for the additional hours at a rate of not less than 1.5 times the employee’s regular hourly rate.

Legislative History
Reference Tables

Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance)	N.S. Reg. 202/2003
Labour Standards Code
Note: The information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Minimum Wage Order (Construction and Property Maintenance) made under the Labour Standards Code includes all of the following regulations:

N.S. Regulation	In force date*	How in force	Royal Gazette Part II Issue
202/2003	Dec 12, 2003	date specified	Dec 1, 2003
110/2005	May 27, 2005	date specified	Jun 10, 2005
172/2005	Aug 26, 2005	date specified	Sep 16, 2005
57/2007	May 1, 2007	date specified	Mar 2, 2007
123/2008	May 1, 2008	date specified	Apr 11, 2008
258/2011	Sep 5, 2011	date specified (10 days after date of publication in Royal Gazette)	Aug 26, 2011
15/2016	Jan 19, 2016	date specified	Feb 5, 2016
3/2019	Jan 28, 2019	date specified	Jan 18, 2019
13/2020	Apr 1, 2020	date specified	Feb 14, 2020
20/2022	Oct 1, 2022	date specified	Feb 25, 2022
28/2023	Mar 6, 2023	date specified	Feb 24, 2023

The following regulations are not yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation:

N.S. Regulation	In force date*	How in force	Royal Gazette Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added am. = amended	fc. = fee change ra. = reassigned		rep. = repealed rs. = repealed and substituted
Provision affected		How affected
2(2)(f) to 2(2)(g)...............................		ad. 172/2005
2A.....................................................		ad. 258/2011
2A(1), defn. of “Consumer Price Index”.......................................		am. 15/2016
2A(1), defn. of “Low Income (Before Tax) Cut-Off”.............		rep. 15/2016
2A(1), defn. of “projected annual Consumer Price Index”............		ad. 15/2016
4........................................................		rs. 110/2005, 57/2007, 123/2008, 258/2011
4(1)..............................................		rep. 15/2016
4(2)..............................................		rep. 15/2016; ad. 13/2020¹; rep. 20/2022
4(3)..............................................		am. 15/2016; rs. 3/2019, 13/2020, 20/2022, 28/2023
4(3A) ..........................................		ad. 3/2019; am. 20/2022; rep. 28/2023
4(4)..............................................		am. 3/2019; rs. 28/2023
4(5)-6).........................................		ad. 28/2023
4A.....................................................		ad. 258/2011
4A(1)...........................................		am. 15/2016, 3/2019, 13/2020, 20/2022, 28/2023

Note that changes to headings are not included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections:

	Note	Effective date
1	The amendment to s. 4 by N.S. Reg. 13/2020 contains instructions to add s. 4(2), but does not specify where to insert it. The amendment has been applied by inserting s. 4(2) immediately after s. 4(1) for the purposes of this consolidation.

Repealed and Superseded:

N.S. Regulation	Title	In force date	Repealed date
103/1991	Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry) (sets minimum wage effective January 1, 1989)	Oct 1, 1991	Jan 1, 1993
239/1992	Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry)	Jan 1, 1993	Oct 1, 1996
89/1996	Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry)	Oct 1, 1996	Oct 1, 1999
5/1999	Minimum Wage Order (Road Building and Heavy Construction Industry)	Oct 1, 1999	Dec 12, 2003

Note: Only regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced and for which consolidated versions exist appear in this table. It may not reflect the entire history of regulations on this subject matter.