Halifax/Kjipuktuk— The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia released the 2025 Living Wages Report for Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, providing the latest regional and provincial living wage calculations across these provinces.
A living wage reflects what workers need to cover the basic costs of living and participate fully in their communities. The new report highlights significant challenges for workers and families, particularly in the face of rising housing costs and continued high costs of food and other household essentials.
The key theme in this year’s report is that far too many households in Atlantic Canada are struggling to make ends meet – their real earnings do not match the minimum living wage needed to pay basic expenses.
The report provides:
- Updated living wage rates for all regions of N.L., N.S., and P.E.I.
- Provincial averages for comparison across the three provinces
- Policy recommendations that would improve income security, reduce living costs, and close gaps in the social safety net
“These findings continue to be a wake-up call,” said Christine Saulnier, Director, CCPA-NS and co-author. “Too many workers in Atlantic Canada earn less than what it takes to make ends meet. The living wage shows us not only what families need to survive, but also how public policy and employer action can close the affordability gap. PEI’s living wage has not increased this year, showing that even small changes can make a difference.”
“The trends we see in this year’s report have been around for a while – everyone in the region knows that the cost of living has really shifted the balance between their income and affordability,” said Russell Williams, co-author and associate professor of political science at Memorial University.
Williams continues, “Of course, employers need to take note of what is going on – their struggles to find workers are directly tied to the fact that people simply cannot afford to live on low wages. Employers need to recognize this reality, and governments need to act. The Living Wage Report offers a clear set of policy recommendations for governments that want to tackle the most important economic challenge in the region.”
“For too long, employers and governments have argued that a cost-of-living cushion in Atlantic Canada justifies lower wages. The data show this is not true. In fact, the data reveal that too many people earn less than a living wage, and that is a serious labour market problem,” says co-author, Daniel Cerdas Sandí, with CCPA-NS.
As Suzanne MacNeil, with Justice for Workers Nova Scotia says, “These rates reflect what workers are experiencing in our communities: it remains a struggle to make ends meet.”
MacNeil further states, “Recent labour disputes reflect this struggle: the Cape Breton Island Building Trades’ recent strike, faculty and precarious academic workers at Dalhousie, and flight attendants at Air Canada. Many of these situations are about workers trying to catch up from the early years of the COVID pandemic, when they made concessions and sacrifices at the bargaining table during tough times for their employers. Workers are having to go on picket lines to get what should already be theirs: decent wages that keep food on the table, rent paid, and the lights kept on.”
