Halifax/Kjipuktuk— The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia released ‘The Foundations of Decent Work: An Evaluation of Nova Scotia Labour Standards.’ This report assesses the effectiveness of minimum protections for fairness for workers. The authors find that Nova Scotia lags behind other Canadian jurisdictions, leaving many workers facing unjust and unfair working conditions.
As lead author of the new report and author of the 2019 report on labour standards, Dr. Rebecca Casey, Acadia University and CCPA-NS research associate, said this: “I am struck by how much Nova Scotia continues to lag behind other jurisdictions regarding standard and minimal protections for employees working in the province. There have been small improvements in the last six years.”
Dr. Casey emphasizes, “If there is one recommendation I want to highlight, it is the importance of shifting away from a system that relies on individual workers to report violations. Workers would benefit from proactive enforcement of labour standards with fines for those who violate them.”
“This assessment of labour standards reveals the gaps in the minimal foundation all workers deserve to safeguard their right to decent work,” said Christine Saulnier, Director, CCPA-NS, and co-author. “To suggest Nova Scotia’s labour standards need updating is an understatement. What we outline are the immediate improvements needed to strengthen mostly existing provisions. We also recommend the government establish a Fair Wages and Decent Jobs Commission to consider how best to fill gaps and create quality jobs, taking into account new technology, extreme climate events, societal changes, and various forms of work organization and business operations.”
“The Halifax Workers Action Centre is very pleased to see this report published. It mirrors many of the concerns we hear from low-wage and precarious workers, who have no union protection. For too long, workers in Nova Scotia have laboured under weak employment laws that do too little to protect them,” said Margaret Anne McHugh, Community Organizer with the Halifax Workers Action Centre.
McHugh continues, “If Nova Scotia wants to attract and retain health care and construction workers, and other workers in high demand, we should be offering the best labour standards in the country—not suffer under the reputation that we are among the worst.”
About the authors
Rebecca Casey
Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Casey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology Acadia and a Research Associate at the CCPA Nova Scotia. She teaches research methods and courses in aging, disability, and employment. She is the co-author of the 2025 CCPA NS report with Dr. Christine Saulnier “The Foundations of Decent Work. An Evaluation of Nova Scotia Labour Standards” and the 2019 CCPA NS report “A Rising Tide to Lift All Boats”. Dr. Casey was involved with the SSHRC partnership grant (co-leads Leah F. Vosko and Mary Gellatly) project “Closing the Enforcement Standards Enforcement Gap” and is a co-author of “Closing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Employment Standards Protections for People in Precarious Jobs” (University Press 2020). Dr. Casey has published in the areas of aging with a disability, injured workers with permanent impairments, employment standards, child maltreatment, and student and worker well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Saulnier
Christine Saulnier (she/her) is Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia. She has a doctorate in Political Science from York University. She leads the living wage calculations for communities across Atlantic Canada and serves as a co-author of the annual child and family poverty report cards for Nova Scotia. She has written extensively, and given commentary on a range of other public policy issues including fiscal policy, labour markets, and child care policy. She serves on the Steering Committee of Child Care Now Nova Scotia, and Campaign 2000 (national coalition to end child and family poverty). She served on the Board of the NS Health Coalition and Adsum for 10 years.
