Nova Scotia: the official figures for 2026
These are all the figures of jurisdictions.nova_scotia in the data file: nine loose figures and six tables with 18 rows, each with the statute it comes from, when it took effect and how far it has been verified.
Updated · Figures verified against the statutes of each jurisdiction · see all figures and their sources · what's new
It is one of the 14 pages of the Jurisdictions block, inside official figures. The raw data is in legal-data-2026.json.
What this block holds
Nova Scotia's figures mark the minimums when a job ends or is put on hold: notice of termination after 3 months, the notice you owe when you quit, lay-offs, group notice, vacation pay, the six general holidays, the deadline for vacation pay and the complaint limit. Nova Scotia has no separate statutory severance pay, and the Code gives no fixed point at which a long lay-off becomes a termination.
The source is the Labour Standards Code, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 246. Section 72 does most of the work: the employer's notice schedule, the six-day lay-off, the lay-off notice and the group schedule from 10 employees. Section 73 covers notice from the employee, s. 32 vacation, s. 34 vacation pay on termination, s. 2 the general holidays and s. 81 complaints. No row shows a start date in the Validity column; the review date for all of them is September 5, 2026.
These figures aren't tied to any yearly index and change only if the Code is amended. What changes each year is when Nova Scotia Heritage Day and Good Friday fall.
How to read the table
The final pay row is a good test of reading the note first. Value reads 10 days and Source reads s. 34, but the Figure note explains that this deadline applies to vacation pay. Ordinary wages are due within five working days after the pay period ends. One row, one number, and still two clocks for your last pay.
Figure qualifies, Value quantifies, Source points to the section, Validity dates the figure when the file records a date, and Status grades it. A Verified figure was checked in the Code. A Secondary source figure was computed from official numbers and the calculation is shown. A Not yet verified figure has no confirmation yet and stays off the rest of the site. Nova Scotia's rows are all Verified. None of them is a verdict on your case, which turns on your service, your pay and the facts.
Where the site uses these figures
These rows sit behind the Nova Scotia termination notice guide and the calculator for your notice or pay in lieu. The two final pay clocks appear in final pay deadlines, province by province, the vacation bands in how vacation pay is settled when you leave, and the six-day lay-off in the rules for temporary layoffs. For benefits after your last day, see EI in Nova Scotia.
Status: Verified = read in the primary source; Secondary source = worked out by us from official figures, arithmetic shown; Not yet verified = not confirmed in the primary source, and so not published as a firm figure on any other page. The detail is in rule three of the methodology.
Nova Scotia jurisdictions.nova_scotia
| Figure | Value | Source | Validity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Your period of employment runs from your last hiring and keeps running through any lay-off or suspension of less than twelve consecutive months. Separate spells count as one period of employment unless they are more than thirteen weeks apart.nova_scotia.notice.qualifying_service | 3 months | Labour Standards Code, s. 72 — Termination of employment by employer | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Six consecutive days or less, and no notice is owed. Longer than that and the full notice under section 72 applies.nova_scotia.notice.temporary_layoff_minimum | 6 days | Labour Standards Code, s. 72 — Termination of employment by employer | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Nova Scotia has no separate statutory severance pay.nova_scotia.severance.exists | No | Labour Standards Code, R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 246 | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Nova scotia · group termination · thresholdnova_scotia.group_termination.threshold | 10 employees | Labour Standards Code, s. 72 — Termination of employment by employer | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Nova scotia · group termination · windownova_scotia.group_termination.window | 4 weeks | Labour Standards Code, s. 72 — Termination of employment by employer | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Nova Scotia's Labour Standards Code names six general holidays. Newfoundland and Labrador names six as well, and no jurisdiction names fewer. Remembrance Day is a closing day under a different statute, the Remembrance Day Act, and is not one of the Code's general holidays.nova_scotia.holidays.count | 6 | Labour Standards Code, s. 2 — Interpretation (general holiday, lay-off, pay, period of employment) | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
This ten-day deadline is the one the Code counts from your last day, and it applies to vacation pay. Ordinary wages are due on the normal pay cycle, within five working days after the pay period ends.nova_scotia.final_pay.days_after_termination | 10 days | Labour Standards Code, s. 34 — Vacation pay on termination | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Same ten days for vacation pay whether you were dismissed or you resigned; section 34 does not distinguish.nova_scotia.final_pay.days_after_quit | 10 days | Labour Standards Code, s. 34 — Vacation pay on termination | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
Six months, and it is a hard line: the Director cannot make an order unless the failure to comply happened within the six months before the complaint was received.nova_scotia.complaint.deadline | 6 months | Labour Standards Code, s. 81 — Complaint to Director | — | Verified Reviewed 2026-09-05 |
| Service from years | Service to years | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 years | 2 years | 1 week |
| 2 years | 5 years | 2 weeks |
| 5 years | 10 years | 4 weeks |
| 10 years | — | 8 weeks |
Source: Labour Standards Code, s. 72 — Termination of employment by employer. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Service from years | Service to years | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 years | 2 years | 1 week |
| 2 years | — | 2 weeks |
Source: Labour Standards Code, s. 73 — Termination of employment by employee. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Label | Max value | Max unit | Window value | Window unit | Condition | Source | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No limit in the Code | — | — | — | — | The Code sets no fixed limit; a lay-off of more than six consecutive days needs the same written notice as a dismissal, and it never turns into a termination just by running long. | ns_lsc_s72 | an employer shall not discharge, suspend or lay off an employee, unless the employee has been guilty of wilful misconduct or disobedience or neglect of duty that has not been condoned by the employer, without having given at least |
Source: Labour Standards Code, s. 72 — Termination of employment by employer. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Employees from | Employees to | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 99 | 8 weeks |
| 100 | 299 | 12 weeks |
| 300 | — | 16 weeks |
Source: Labour Standards Code, s. 72 — Termination of employment by employer. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Service from years | Service to years | Weeks | Pay percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 years | 8 years | 2 weeks | 4% |
| 8 years | — | 3 weeks | 6% |
Source: Labour Standards Code, s. 32 — Vacation. Reviewed on September 5, 2026.
| Name | Date rule |
|---|---|
| New Year's Day | January 1 |
| Nova Scotia Heritage Day | Third Monday in February |
| Good Friday | Friday before Easter Sunday |
| Canada Day | July 1 |
| Labour Day | First Monday in September |
| Christmas Day | December 25 |
Source: Labour Standards Code, s. 2 — Interpretation (general holiday, lay-off, pay, period of employment). Reviewed on September 5, 2026.